* 


Papal  Sovereignty 

The  Government  Within 
Our  Government 


GILBERT    O.    NATIONS 

Vice-President  of  the  Free  Press 

Defense  League;  author 

of  "Constitution  or 

Pope?"  etc. 


SECOND   EDITION 


CINCINNATI 

THE  STANDARD  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


Copyright,  1917 
The  Standard  Publishing  Company 


Contents 

PAGE 

PREFACE 7 

I 
THE  POPE  A  CIVIL  SOVEREIGN 9 

II 
SUPREME  OVERLORD 11 

III 
MONARCH  OF  THE  PAPAL  STATE.  ...     19 

IV 
STILL  ENJOYS  SOVEREIGN  POWER.  . .     25 

V 
WEARS  A  CROWN 32 

VI 

SOVEREIGNTY  GUARANTEED  BY  LAW  .... 
OF  ITALY 38 

VII 

STILL  CLAIMS  PRE-EMINENT  SOVER- 
EIGNTY .  54 


1711951 


CONTENTS 

VIII  PAGE 
STILL  CLAIMS  PRE-EMINENT  SOVER- 
EIGNTY (Continued) 65 

IX 

STILL  CLAIMS  PRE-EMINENT  SOVER- 
EIGNTY (Concluded) 75 

X 

SENDS  AND  RECEIVES  AMBASSADORS.     91 
XI 

MAKES  TREATIES 100 

XII 
TEXT-BOOKS  ON  INTERNATIONAL  LAW 

DECLARE  HIM  SOVEREIGN 109 

XIII 
EVERY  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  A  PAPAL 

SUBJECT 115 

XIV 
CARDINALS  BELONG  TO  PAPAL  COURT  124 

XV 

BISHOPS  ARE  CREATURES  AND  DEPU- 
TIES OF  THE  POPE 137 

XVI 

PAPAL  SUBJECTS  IN  AMERICAN  POL- 
ITICS .  145 


CONTENTS 


XVII  PAGE 

VAST  AMERICAN   PROPERTIES   CON- 
TROLLED BY  THE  POPE 149 

XVIII 

PAPACY  HOSTILE  TO  OUR  INSTITU- 
TIONS     153 

XIX 
SEPARATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE.    157 

XX 

FREEDOM  OF  SPEECH  AND  PRESS.  . . .    163 
XXI 

OPPOSES  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 168 

XXII 

MARRIAGE 174 

XXIII 

DlSFRANCHISEMENT  THE  ONLY  ADE- 
QUATE REMEDY 179 


Preface 

/CAREFUL  study  has  shown  me  that 
^  the  voice  of  history,  of  canon  law  and 
of  international  law  supports  with  con- 
vincing force  and  with  virtual  unanimity 
the  proposition  that  the  Pope  is  a  political 
sovereign  prince,  ruling  an  empire  whose 
subjects  are  restricted  to  no  territorial 
limits,  but  dwell  in  every  land  and  under 
every  flag. 

The  peculiar  constitution  and  dogmas 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  clothe 
the  Pope  with  jurisdiction  absolutely 
unlimited  in  both  scope  and  autocracy. 
The  temporal  and  eternal  destiny  of  every 
Roman  Catholic  under  these  dogmas  de- 
pends on  his  complete  subjection  to  the 
Pope  as  supreme  and  infallible  teacher 
and  monarch  of  the  human  race. 

Notwithstanding  the  unparalleled 
sway  of  the  Pope  over  his  vast  ecclesias- 
tical empire,  his  subjects  are  permitted  to 


PREFACE 

become  citizens  and  to  engage  actively  in 
the  politics  of  every  nation.  It  is  but 
natural  that  a  political  condition  so  mon- 
strous should  inflict  untold  misery  on 
every  community.  It  appears  perfectly 
manifest  that  relief  can  be  obtained  by 
nothing  short  of  disfranchisement  by  all 
civil  governments  of  the  princes  and  sub- 
jects of  the  Papal  Empire. 

My  excuse  for  enlarging  my  work  by 
copying  so  many  excerpts  from  the  au- 
thorities cited  is  that  these  authorities 
are  not  accessible  to  the  masses  of  the 
people.  Attention  is  called  to  the  fact  that 
the  citations  give  the  book  and  page  of 
all  authorities.  This  will  enable  critical 
readers  to  verify  all  the  citations  used. 

Occupying  a  unique  position  in  the 
literature  of  the  New  Reformation,  this 
work  undertakes  to  cut  the  tap-root  of 
political  Romanism.  A  fundamental  is- 
sue, the  greatest  in  the  politics  of  the 
modern  world,  is  here  presented  to 
thoughtful,  patriotic  citizens  of  the 
United  States. 

GILBERT  O.  NATIONS. 
8 


THE  POPE  A  CIVIL  SOVEREIGN 

I.  The  Pope  is  a  Civil  and  Political 
Prince,  Potentate  and  Sovereign  Under 
the  Law  of  Nations. 

'"T'HE  foregoing  proposition  embodies 
•*•  the  most  vital  and  comprehensive 
issue  in  the  politics  of  the  world.  It 
affords  the  only  solution  of  a  problem 
that  has  confronted  all  nations  more  than 
a  thousand  years. 

Let  it  be  distinctly  understood  that 
the  spiritual  status  of  vhe  Pope  as  a 
bishop  is  not  involved  in  this  discussion. 
The  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  not  now 
under  consideration.  It  is  of  supreme 
importance  to  distinguish  clearly  between 
religion  and  politics  at  the  threshold  of 
this  investigation. 

The  Constitution  of  the  United  States 

prohibits  any  religious  test  as  a  qualifi- 
9 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


cation  to  public  office,  and  forbids  Con- 
gress to  make  any  law  respecting  an  es- 
tablishment of  religion  or  prohibiting  the 
free  exercise  thereof. 

It  has  long  been  the  deliberate  pur- 
pose of  the  Pope  and  his  adherents,  in 
meeting  objections  to  their  political  pro- 
gram, to  confuse  the  public  mind  by 
making  complaint  that  the  Catholic  re- 
ligion is  being  opposed. 

If  the  Pope  is  a  civil  and  temporal 
prince,  potentate  and  sovereign,  that  fact 
should  be  established  beyond  doubt  or 
denial.  In  order  that  the  proof  may  ap- 
pear with  reasonable  fullness,  the  sub- 
stance of  that  proof  will  be  presented  in 
the  following  subsidiary  propositions: 


10 


II 

SUPREME  OVERLORD 

1.  During  several  centuries  the  popes 
claimed  and  enjoyed  supreme  authority 
as  the  overlords  of  all  other  potentates. 

At  the  nightfall  of  the  Middle  Ages 
barbarians  from  northern  Europe  poured 
over  the  frontiers  of  the  decaying  Roman 
Empire  and  swept  away  the  imperial 
fabric  that  had  so  long  dominated  and 
controlled  the  civilized  world.  With  the 
sway  of  the  Caesars  so  abruptly  termi- 
nated, two  well-defined  institutions  arose 
for  the  restraint  of  society  amidst  the 
strife  and  commotion  of  that  turbulent 
age.  These  institutions  were  the  Papacy 
and  the  Feudal  System. 

As  barbarian  invaders  threatened  the 
city  of  Rome,  no  Caesar  could  be  found 
to  roll  back  with  valorous  legions  the 
tide  of  invasion  and  interpose  a  barrier 

stronger    than    the    Alps.      In    this    ex- 
11 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


tremity  the  bishop  of  Rome,  who  had 
already  attained  to  ecclesiastical  pre- 
eminence in  the  West,  being  then  the 
most  conspicuous  person  in  Rome,  under- 
took the  protection  of  the  city.  Oppor- 
tunity was  thus  afforded  him  to  render 
services  that  greatly  enhanced  the  pres- 
tige and  dignity  of  his  office.  Simul- 
taneously the  feudal  system  arose  for  the 
protection  of  life  and  property  through- 
out the  Continent. 

Under  this  system  triumphant  leaders 
of  the  conquering  barbarians  distributed 
the  lands  among  their  faithful  lieutenants, 
who  in  turn  subdivided  their  respective 
portions  among  the  masses  of  the  people 
as  their  inferiors. 

In  connection  with  this  apportionment 
each  of  the  lieutenants  or  barons  was  re- 
quired to  plight  his  life  and  property  to 
the  conqueror  as  his  overlord  by  the  most 
solemn  oaths  of  devotion  and  fealty 
known  to  those  stern  and  barbarous 
times. 

In  like  manner  each  individual,  soldier 

and  tribesman  pledged  his  fealty  to  the 
12 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


lieutenant  or  baron  from  whom  he  re- 
ceived his  parcel  of  land.  The  ceremony 
wherein  these  solemn  pledges  were  made 
was  called  homage,  the  superior  to  whom 
fealty  was  so  pledged  was  designated 
as  the  overlord  or  suzerain,  and  the 
person  of  inferior  rank  who  made  the 
pledge  was  known  as  the  vassal  or  un- 
derling. 

In  due  time  the  feudal  overlords  at- 
tained to  royal  and  imperial  rank  and 
power,  and  the  popes  vied  with  them  for 
civil  supremacy.  While  conceding  to  the 
feudal  potentates  sovereign  power  over 
their  respective  countries,  the  popes 
claimed  suzerainty  over  all  the  rulers  of 
the  earth  and  made  good  that  claim  by 
receiving  homage  from  the  most  power- 
ful monarchs  of  the  Middle  Ages.  De- 
manding fealty  of  every  Roman  Catholic 
throughout  the  world,  from  the  king  on 
his  throne  to  the  humblest  peasant,  the 
popes  exercised  the  right  to  control  the 
domestic  and  foreign  affairs  of  every 
nation.  An  eminent  French  authority  on 
international  law  has  portrayed  the  amaz- 

13 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


ing  pretensions  of  the  Papacy  in  the  fol- 
lowing brief  statement: 

[Translation  from  the  French.] 

"As  head  of  the  Catholic  Church,  the 
Pope  exercised  powers  and  possessed 
attributes  absolutely  unprecedented.  His 
authority  transcended  the  material  bound- 
aries of  the  states  and  extended  through- 
out the  entire  world,  in  the  East  as  well 
as  in  the  West,  in  Asia,  in  Africa  as  well 
as  in  Europe  and  in  America,  everywhere 
that  there  was  a  Catholic  community." — 
Droit  International  Public  (seventh  ed.), 
Bonfils  (Paris,  1914),  Sec.  372. 

Another  leading  French  writer  has 
described  the  Papal  sovereignty  in  the  fol- 
lowing worcts : 

[Translation  from  the  French.] 

"Itis  a  superior  power  to  which  kings 
submitted  their  differences  and  accepted 
its  adjustments.  Ft|r|hermore,  the  popes, 
who  found,  in  tha'tVepckh,  in  the  exercise 
of  the  temporal  sovereignty,  the  right  to 
meddle  in  international  relations  and  the 
struggles  of  politics,  participated  also,  as 
the  leaders  of  religion,  in  the  internal 
government  of  states,  through  their  rep- 

14 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


resentatives,  whose  mission  was  less  to 
play  the  role  of  "diplomatic  agents  than  as 
supreme  judges  and  sovereign  adminis- 
trators. The  Church  had,  in  every  land, 
itsf  tribunals,  its  own  domains,  and  the 
right  to  levy  certain  imposts." — Droit  In- 
ternational Public  (sixth  ed.),  by  Georges 
Bry,  Dean  of  the  Law  Faculty  of  the 
University  of  Marseilles  (Paris,  1910), 
Sec.  130. 

The  other  writers  on  international  law 
with  one  accord  attest  the  tremendous  and 
virtually  unchallenged  authority  of  the 
popes  during  the  Middle  Ages.  The  fol- 
lowing excerpts  will  show  the  extent  and 
character  of  the  Papal  claims : 

"It  was  under  the  pontificate  of  Inno- 
cent the  Third  that  the  power  of  Rome 
reached  its  meridian  height.  Of  noble 
birth,  and  in  the  prime  of  manhood  when 
he  ascended  the  Papal  throne,  equal  in 
ambition  and  hardly  inferior  in  ability  to 
Hildebrand,  he  aspired  still  more  openly 
to  universal  domimofi.  and  his  efforts  were 
crowned  with  still  more  signal  success. 
No  pope  before  his  time  ever  exercised  an 
authority  so  absolute  and  so  extensive; 
no  prince,  however  powerful,  successfully 
15 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


resisted  his  authority.  Peter  the  Second 
of  Aragpn  acknowledged  himself  his  vas- 
sal, and  the  most  worthless  king  who  ever 
wore  the  English  crown  submitted  to  the 
like  degrading  terms.  Over  Philip  Au- 
gustus of  France,  a  monarch  of  very  dif- 
ferent stamp,  the  Pope  obtained  a  triumph 
still  more  remarkable.  Philip  had  di- 
vorced without  cause  his  wife,  Isemburga, 
a  Danish  princess,  and  had  contracted 
another  marriage.  This  step  was  strongly 
disapproved  as  well  in  Denmark  as  in 
France,  in  both  of  which  countries  the 
repudiated  queen  was  deservedly  es- 
teemed. By  the  operation  of  a  Papal 
interdict,  which  brought  his  subjects  to 
the  verge  of  rebellion,  Philip  was  at 
length  compelled  to  annul  his  existing 
marriage  and  receive  back  the  wife  he 
had  unjustly  divorced.  There  was,  in- 
deed, hardly  a  prince  in  Christendom  who 
did  not  feel  the  weight  of  Innocent's  au- 
thority. At  a  time  when  war  appeared 
imminent  between  the  kings  of  Portugal 
and  Castile  we  find  him  directing  his 
legate  to  threaten  both  with  excommuni- 
cation in  case  the  peace  was  broken. 
Complaints  having  been  made  against  his 
vassal,  the  King  of  Aragon,  for  debasing 
his  coin,  he  commanded  him  to  restore  it 
16 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


to  the  proper  standard.  At  the  fourth 
Lateran  Council  he  absolutely  deprived 
Raymond,  Count  of  Thoulouse,  of  his 
dominions  on  account  of  his  alleged  com- 
plicity with  the  Albigenses,  and  at  the 
same  council  he  declared,  after  hearing 
the  ambassadors  of  both  the  competitors, 
that  Frederick  the  Second,  grandson  of 
Barbarosa,  had  made  good  his  claim  to 
the  imperial  crown.  Otho  the  Fourth, 
who  had  previously  been  crowned  by  In- 
nocent, was  at  the  same  time  declared  to 
be  no  longer  emperor.  The  true  reasons 
for  this  decision  are  well  known.  Otho 
had  solemnly  promised  at  his  coronation 
to  restore  to  the  Church  certain  terri- 
tories in  his  possession,  and  he  had  wholly 
disregarded  his  engagements. 

"Innocent  the  Third  freely  exercised 
the  privilege  of  creating  as  well  as  depos- 
ing kings." — Hosack  on  the  Law  of  Na- 
tions, pp.  41,  42. 

"On  the  15th  of  May,  1213,  John 
(King  of  England)  did  homage  to  the 
Pope's  legate  at  Dover  in  presence  of  a 
number  of  the  nobility  and  people.  .  .  . 
After  he  had  thus  solemnly  acknowl- 
edged himself  a  vassal  of  the  Pope,  John 
delivered  up  to  the  legate  his  crown  and 
scepter,  who  retained  them  in  his  posses- 

2  17 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


sion  for  five  whole  days  before  he  re- 
turned them  to  the  king." — Rapin,  Vol. 
III.,  p.  209. 

"The  popes  at  one  time  claimed  the  au- 
thority to  absolve  sovereigns  from  their 
engagements  and  to  annul  the  obligations 
of  treaties,  under  whatsoever  solemnities 
they  might  be  contracted.  Vattel  men- 
tions a  number  of  instances  where,  he 
says,  they  have  undertaken  to  break  the 
treaties  of  sovereigns,  'to  unloose  the 
contracting  power  from  his  engagements, 
and  to  absolve  him  from  the  oaths  by 
which  he  had  confirmed  them.'  .  .  . 
'Who  does  not  see  that  these  daring  acts 
of  the  popes,  which  were  formerly  very 
frequent,  were  violations  of  the  law  of 
nations,  and  directly  tended"  to  destroy  all 
the  bonds  that  could  unite  mankind,  and 
to  sap  the  foundations  of  their  tranquility, 
and  to  render  the  Pope  sole  arbiter  of 
their  affairs  ?'  " — Halleck  on  Internation- 
al Law  (London,  1878),  pp.  239,  240. 


18 


Ill 

MONARCH  OF  THE  PAPAL  STATE 

2.  For  more  than  a  thousand  years 
the  Pope  ruled  the  Papal  State  as  abso- 
lute monarch,  and  all  authorities  agree 
that  he  was  then  a  civil  sovereign. 

During  the  eighth  century  Pepin 
and  Charlemagne,  the  most  powerful  and 
renowned  monarchs  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
wrested  from  the  Lombards  a  tract  of 
land  in  central  Italy  about  as  large  as  the 
State  of  Maryland,  and  erected  it  into  a 
Papal  kingdom  over  which  the  popes 
reigned  with  despotic  sway  till  the  year 
1870,  when  the  Papacy  was  divested  of 
this  territorial  dominion  by  the  military 
forces  of  the  King  of  Italy.  During  that 
period  the  sovereignty  of  the  Pope  arose 
from  his  dual  capacity  as  monarch  of  the 
Papal  State  and  as  sovereign  pontiff  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  throughout 
the  world.  While  the  former  character 

19 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


was  clearly  sufficient  to  place  him  in  the 
category  of  monarchs,  his  pre-eminent 
rank  in  the  family  of  nations  even  then 
was  so  out  of  proportion  to  the  size  and 
importance  of  his  territorial  kingdom  as 
to  preclude  the  idea  that  it  rested  chiefly 
on  that  foot. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  civil  sover- 
eignty was  universally  conceded  to  the 
Pope  prior  to  his  loss  of  the  pontifical  state, 
it  appears  scarcely  necessary  to  produce 
authorities  in  support  of  this  contention 
which  no  one  denies.  The  following  brief 
excerpts  aud  authorities  taken  from 
leading  writers  on  international  law  are 
deemed  sufficient: 

"Throughout  the  existence  of  the 
Papal  State,  the  popes  were  monarchs 
and,  as  such,  were  equals  to  all  other 
monarchs.  Their  position  was,  however, 
even  then  anomalous,  as  their  influence 
and  the  privileges  granted  to  them  by  the 
different  states  were  due,  not  alone  to 
their  being  the  head  of  the  state,  but  to 
their  being  the  head  of  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church."— International  Law,  by  Op- 
penheim,  Sec.  104. 

20 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


[Translation  from  the  French.] 

"As  temporal  ruler  of  the  pontifical 
state,  the  Pope  was  a  true  sovereign,  in- 
vested with  the  powers,  the  attributes,  the 
prerogatives,  and  holding  the  obligations 
and  functions  wherewith  other  princes  of 
states  are  invested  and  which  they  hold." 
— Droit  International  Public  (seventh 
ed.),  by  Bonfils  (Paris,  1914),  Sec.  371. 

[Translation  from  the  French.] 

"Along  with  the  spiritual  sovereignty, 
the  popes  enjoyed  during  long  ages,  and 
until  1870,  a  temporal  dominion  which 
the  Catholic  powers  granted  in  order  to 
safeguard  the  independence  of  the  Sover- 
eign Pontiff  and  which  he  exercised  over 
a  domain  which  the  popes  considered  in- 
alienable for  their  own  particular  reason." 
— Droit  International  Public  (sixth  ed.), 
by  Georges  Bry  (Paris,  1910),  Sec.  131. 

[Translation  from  the  Spanish.] 

"Until  1870,  the  Pope,  in  keeping  with 
his  quality  of  sovereign,  was  invested 
with  the  right  of  temporal  sovereignty 
which  he  exercised  over  a  definite  terri- 
tory and  the  inhabitants  thereof.  The 
government  of  the  states  of  the  Church 
was  absolute  and  presented  a  theocratic 

21 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


character." — Elementos  de  Derecho  In- 
ternational Publico  por  el  Dr.  Manuel 
Torres  Campos  (third  ed.,  Madrid,  1912), 

p.  199. 

i 

In   1908  the   Supreme   Court  of  the 

United  States  uttered  the  following  re- 
mark: 

"At  one  time  the  United  States  main- 
tained diplomatic  relations  with  the  Papal 
State,  which  continued  up  to  the  time  of 
the  loss  of  the  temporal  power  of  the 
Papacy." — Ponce  vs.  Roman  Catholic 
Church,  210  U.  S.  loc.  cit.  318,  28  Sup. 
Ct.  737. 


While  the  subjugation  of  the  Papal 
State  and  its  incorporation  into  the  king- 
dom of  Italy  ended  the  status  of  the  Pope 
as  monarch  of  that  petty  state,  it  did 
not  affect  a  particle  his  rank  as  head  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church;  and  since  it 
is  manifest  that  his  commanding  and  pre- 
eminent station  among  mediaeval  sover- 
eigns could  not  arise  from  his  position  as 
head  of  the  insignificant  pontifical  state, 
but  must  be  due  to  his  ecclesiastical  su- 
premacy as  head  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
22 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Church,  that  pre-eminence  was  not  there- 
fore diminished  by  the  loss  of  his  small 
territorial  domain.  Every  claim  to  civil 
sovereignty  which  he  possessed  in  the 
past  by  virtue  of  his  ECCLESIASTICAL  rank 
remains  unimpaired.  If  he  was  ever  a 
civil  potentate  by  virtue  of  that  rank,  he 
is  so  still.  If  he  ever  had  power  as 
sovereign  pontiff  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  to  crown  and  depose  monarchs 
and  to  participate  in  the  diplomacy  and 
politics  of  the  world,  he  has  that  power 
to-day. 

That  the  tremendous  prerogatives  of 
the  popes  in  former  centuries  were  due 
entirely  to  their  ECCLESIASTICAL  position 
as  pontiffs  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  not  to  their  ROYAL  position  as  rulers 
of  the  Papal  State,  is  conclusively  demon- 
strated by  the  following  facts : 

(1)  Every  claim  to  such  prerogatives 
made    by    the    popes    themselves    rested 
upon  their  ecclesiastical   rank  as   sover- 
eign   pontiffs    of    the    Roman    Catholic 
Church. 

(2)  Every  such  claim  made  on  their 

23 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


behalf  by  Church  councils  stood  upon  the 
same  foundation. 

(3)  Diplomatic  envoys  were  uniform- 
ly accredited  to  the  popes,  or  by  them,  as 
pontiffs  and  not  as  monarchs  of  the  Papal 
State. 

(4)  It  is  manifest  that  the  powerful 
monarchs  of  Germany,  France  and  Eng- 
land who   did  homage   to   the   popes   as 
their  overlords  did  so  in  recognition  of 
the  Papal  prerogatives  as  sovereign  pon- 
tiffs, and  not  as  monarchs  of  a  state  in- 
finitely weaker  and  less  important  than 
their  own. 

(5)  The  concordats,  or  treaties,  with 
other    potentates    were    then    invariably 
made  by  the  popes  in  their  ecclesiastical 
capacity,    and    were    identical    in    their 
formal  parts  with  such  conventions  made 
since  the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  State. 

(6)  The  popes  enforced  their  claim  of 
supreme    and    universal    sovereignty    by 
such  ecclesiastical  penalties  as  excommu- 
nication, suspension  and  interdict  rather 
than  by  force  of  arms. 


IV 

STILL  ENJOYS  SOVEREIGN  POWERS 

3.  Notwithstanding  the  loss  of  his  ter- 
ritorial domain,  the  Pope  still  claims  and 
enjoys  the  rights,  powers  and  prerogatives 
of  a  political  sovereign  prince. 

Having  conclusively  shown  that  the 
Pope  was  clothed  with  all  the  preroga- 
tives of  a  civil  potentate  prior  to  the  loss 
of  his  domain  in  1870,  we  come  now  to 
consider  the  more  vital  question  of  his 
status  at  the  present  day.  The  proof  that 
he  is  now  invested  with  temporal  and 
political  sovereignty  throughout  the  world 
will  be  presented  under  the  following 
averments : 

(1)  The  Pope  occupies  a  throne  iden- 
tical in  all  essentials  with  those  occupied 
by  other  monarchs. 

In  every  land  and  in  every  age  a 
throne  has  signified  political  sovereign 

25 


power.  Emperors  and  kings  deliver  mes- 
sages of  state  and  perform  the  most 
solemn  of  their  imperial  and  royal  func- 
tions seated  on  thrones.  By  the  universal 
custom  and  consent  of  the  human  race, 
thrones  belong  exclusively  to  persons 
vested  with  supreme  and  sovereign  politi- 
cal authority. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  Papal  reign 
of  Leo  XIII.  that  pontiff  summoned  to 
Rome  Rt.  Rev.  Bernard  O'Reilly,  S.T.D., 
an  eminent  Roman  Catholic  prelate  and 
author,  to  write  the  biography  of  the 
Pope.  This  fact  appears  in  the  preface 
of  the  published  volume,  together  with 
such  additional  information  as  shows  the 
work  to  be  virtually  an  autobiography.  It 
was  compiled  from  data  and  documents 
provided  for  that  purpose  by  the  Pope 
himself,  and  received  his  approval  and 
commendation  when  completed. 

Opposite  to  page  217  of  that  biog- 
raphy, which  is  published  also  with  the 
approval  of  Cardinals  Gibbons  and  Farley 
and  other  eminent  prelates,  is  a  full-page 
engraving  of  the  Throne  Room  in  the 

26 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Vatican,  showing  the  Papal  throne  and 
other  significant  appurtenances,  accom- 
panied by  the  following  statement: 

"THE  THRONE  ROOM  IN  THE  VATICAN. 

"Here  the  venerable  pontiff  received 
delegations  and  gave  audiences  to  those 
who  had  permission  to  come  before  him." 

On  page  304  of  the  same  work,  in 
concluding  the  history  of  the  conclave 
which  chose  Leo  XIII.  as  the  successor 
of  Pope  Pius  IX.,  the  following  statement 
appears : 

"Meanwhile,  they  have  placed  upon  \ 
the  platform  of  the  altar  the  portable 
Papal  throne — sedia  gestatoria — and  all 
is  in  readiness  for 'the  first  solemn  cere-  / 
mony  of  doing  homage  to  the  newly 
elected  Vicar  of  Christ.  This  is  called 
'adoration'  from  the  Latin  word  adorare, 
the  ceremony  by  which  the  ancient 
Romans  testified  their  reverence  to  any 
superior  being  or  person,  by  turning  their 
face  toward  the  object  of  their  homage 
and  carrying  the  right  hand  to  the  lips. 
Here  the  act  of  reverence  shown  is  to  the 
person  representing  on  earth  the  Re- 

27 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


deemer  and  Guide  of  mankind,  and,  in- 
directly, to  Christ  Himself. 

"Leo  XIIL,  attired  in  the  insignia  of 
his  dignity,  now  advances  from  behind  the 
altar  and  takes  his  place  on  the  throne. 
The  sub-dean,  in  the  absence  of  Cardinal 
Amat,  is  the  first  to  approach  the  throne. 
He  takes  from  the  Pope's  hand  the  sap- 
\  phire  cardinalitial  ring  and  puts  on  his 
finger  the  Ring  of  the  Fisherman;  then 
he  bends  low  and  kisses  the  feet  of  His 
Vicar  on  earth  who  in  the  Last  Supper 
washed  and  kissed  the  feet  of  His  apos- 
tles ;  he  then  kisses  the  Pope's  hand,  while 
Leo  in  his  turn  gives  him  on  both  cheeks 
the  kiss  of  peace.  So  do  all  the  cardinals 
in  succession,  and  then  the  officers  of  the 
conclave." 

The  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  eleventh 
edition,  Volume  XXVI.,  at  page  892, 
contains  the  following  statement : 

"One  of  the  many  curiosities  of  a  con- 
clave for  the  electing  of  a  pope  is  that 
every  cardinal  present  occupies  a  throne, 
since,  during  the  vacancy  of  the  Holy  See, 
each  member  of  the  Sacred  College  is  a 
potential  sovereign.  When  the  election 
has  taken  place  the  canopy  of  every  throne 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


is  lowered,  with  the  exception  of  that  oc- 
cupied by  the  new  pontiff.  The  palaces 
of  the  great  Roman  nobles  contained — 
and  still  in  some  cases  contain — a  throne 
for  use  in  the  event  of  a  visit  from  the 
Pope.  The  Papal  throne  itself  is  an  an- 
tique bronze  chair  which  stands  in  St. 
Peter's." 

The  Pilot,  which  is  the  official  news- 
paper organ  of  Cardinal  O'Connell,  of 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  its  issue  of 
December  2,  1916,  related  the  reception 
of  the  new  Japanese  Ambassador  to  the 
Vatican  in  the  following  words: 

"The  honors  usually  accorded  to  Am- 
bassadors to  the  Vatican  were  given  to 
this  Imperial  Envoy  from  the  Far  East. 
When  he  ascended  the  great  staircase 
leading  from  the  Court  of  St.  Damasus 
to  the  spacious  Clementine  Hall,  whose 
walls  are  paneled  with  rich  marbles  of 
many  colors,  the  Swiss  Guards  here  pre- 
sented arms,  and  one  of  the  Pontifical 
Private  Chamberlains  conducted  him  into 
the  Throne  Room,  where  His  Holiness 
had  just  taken  his  place  upon  the  throne, 
surrounded  by  the  members  of  the  Pon- 
tifical Court  and  the  commandants  of 

29 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


the  Swiss,  Noble  and  Palantine  Guards. 
'The  Envoy  then,  standing  before  the 
pontifical  throne,  presented  to  His  Holi- 
ness the  autograph  letter  of  the  Emperor, 
of  which  he  was  the  bearer,  addressing 
the  Pontiff  in  a  few  brief  words  in  the 
French  language  on  behalf  and  in  the 
name  of  the  Emperor." 

In  April,  1886,  Prince  Bismarck,  then 
Imperial  Chancellor  of  Germany,  deliv- 
ered in  the  Prussian  House  of  Lords  a 
speech  wherein  he  expressed  a  disposition 
to  mitigate  the  rigors  of  existing  legis- 
lation and  policy  touching  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  said: 

"In  pursuance  of  the  purpose  I  was 
just  explaining  to  you,  I  began,  as  soon 
as  the  present  Pope  ascended  the  throne, 
to  open  publici  juris  negotiations  with 
Monsignor  Masella  (the  Nuncio  in 
Munich),  which  gave  hope  of  a  good 
issue,  and  which  lasted  till  Cardinal 
Franchi  became  Secretary  of  State 
(March  9,  1878),  and  were  afterwards 
suspended."— O'Reilly's  "Life  of  Leo 
XIII. ,"  pp.  473,  474. 

The  fact  that  cardinals  and  bishops 

30 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  are  accus- 
tomed to  occupy  thrones  in  their  respec- 
tive dioceses  tends  rather  to  enhance 
than  to  diminish  the  significance  of  the 
Papal  throne.  All  these  medieval  inven- 
tions disclose  one  common  worldly  and 
political  ambition  pervading  the  entire 
hierarchy.  As  the  Papal  throne  came 
into  use  in  order  to  promote  the  ambition 
of  its  occupant  to  cope  with  neighboring 
monarchs,  so  the  episcopal  throne  of  the 
local  bishop  was  invented  to  emphasize 
his  delegated  sovereignty  in  defiance  of 
the  civil  power. 

That  such  defiance  still  lives  is  shown 
by  the  frequency  with  which  local  prel- 
ates in  this  country  and  abroad  mount 
their  thrones  for  the  transaction  of  epis- 
copal functions,  and  the  diligence  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  and  Rome- favor  ing 
newspaper  press  in  reporting  that  arro- 
gant performance  to  the  people. 


31 


WEARS  A  CROWN 

(2)  The  Pope  wears  an  official  crown, 
known  as  the  tiara,  or  triple  crown,  as  a 
token  of  his  sovereign  power. 

Like  many  of  the  customs  and  instru- 
mentalities with  which  the  Papal  system 
expresses  its  love  of  worldly  pomp,  the 
tiara  is  of  non-Christian  origin.  It  was 
transplanted  from  Persia  into  the  Papal 
system  during  the  darkness  of  the  Middle 
Ages. 

Emperors  and  kings  are  crowned  with 
imposing  ceremony  to  indicate  their  im- 
perial and  royal  authority.  By  universal 
custom  and  consent,  the  crown  expresses 
civil  and  political  sovereignty.  No  con- 
ceivable purpose  can  be  subserved  by  the 
crowning  of  the  Pope  except  to  indicate 
his  rank  as  one  of  the  sovereign  princes 
of  the  world. 

The    Catholic    Encyclopedia,    Volume 

32 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


XII.,  at  page  270,  contains  the  following 
statement :    . 

"INSIGNIA  AND  MARKS  OF  HONOR. — 
The  pope  is  distinguished  by  the  use  of 
the  tiara  or  triple  crown.  At  what  date 
the  custom  of  crowning  the  pope  was 
introduced  is  unknown.  It  was  certainly 
previous  to  the  forged  donation  of  Con- 
stantine,  which  dates  from  the  commence- 
ment of  the  ninth  century,  for  mention 
is  there  made  of  the  pope's  coronation. 
The  triple  crown  is  of  much  later  origin." 

In  Volume  VI.  of  the  Encyclopaedia 
Britannica,  eleventh  edition,  appears  an 
article  written  by  Auguste  Boudinhon, 
D.D.,  D.C.L.,  professor  of  canon  law  in 
the  Catholic  University  of  Paris,  on  the 
Conclave.  On  page  829  of  that  volume, 
in  describing  the  process  of  choosing  and 
installing  a  pope,  Dr.  Boudinhon  makes 
the  following  statement : 

"When  one  cardinal  has  at  last  ob- 
tained two-thirds  of  the  votes,  the  dean 
of  the  cardinals  formally  asks  him 
whether  he  accepts  his  election  and  what 
name  he  wishes  to  assume.  As  soon  as 
he  has  accepted,  the  first  'obedience'  or 

3  38 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


'adoration'  takes  place,  and  immediately 
after  the  first  cardinal-deacon  goes  to  the 
Loggia  of  St.  Peter's  and  announces  the 
great  news  to  the  assembled  people.  The 
conclave  is  dissolved;  on  the  following 
day  take  place  the  two  other  'obedi- 
ences/ and  the  election  is  officially  an- 
nounced to  the  various  governments.  If 
the  pope  be  not  a  bishop  (Gregory  XVI. 
was  not),  he  is  then  consecrated;  and 
finally,  a  few  days  after  his  election, 
takes  place  the  coronation,  from  which 
the  pontificate  is  officially  dated.  The 
pope  then  receives  the  tiara,  the  sign  of 
his  supreme  spiritual  authority.  The 
ceremony  of  the  coronation  goes  back  to 
the  ninth  century,  and  the  tiara,  in  the 
form  of  a  high  conical  cap,  is  equally 
ancient." 

In  Volume  IV.  of  the  Catholic  Ency- 
clopedia, at  page  194,  after  stating  in 
detail  the  proceedings  of  the  conclave, 
that  work  gives  the  following  account  of 
the  steps  required  to  induct  the  newly 
elected  pope  into  office: 

"If  already  a  bishop,  there  takes  place 
only  the  solemn  Benedictio  or  blessing. 
However,  he  enjoys  full  jurisdiction  from 

34 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


the  moment  of  his  election.  On  the  fol- 
lowing Sunday  or  Holy  Day  takes  place, 
at  the  hands  of  the  senior  cardinal- 
deacon,  the  Papal  ''coronation,"  from 
which  day  the  new  pope  dates  the  years 
of  his  pontificate." 

For  the  benefit  and  consideration  of     s 
an  inquiring  reader,  the  Roman  Catholic  A 
monthly  periodical,  Truth,  in  its  issue  of 
September,    1915,    gives    the    following  y 
statement  touching  the  Papal  crown: 

''Historians  have  no  definite  knowl- 
edge as  to  the  exact  time  when  the  differ- 
ent bands  were  instituted  for  the  Pope's 
crown.  The  tiara  is  a  symbol  of  sover-  I 
eignty.  By  some  it  is  said  that  Nicholas  / 
I.  (858-867)  united  the  princely  crown/ 
with  the  miter.  The  Bollandists  say  this 
was  done  earlier.  To  dispose  of  the 
statement  that  Boniface  VIII.  added  the 
second  crown,  we  need  only  refer  to  the 
fact  that  before  his  time,  about  1200, 
Innocent  III.  is  represented  in  a  painting 
with  two  bands  on  his  crown.  And  as 
regards  the  third  crown,  some  writers 
attribute  it  to  Urban  V.  (1362-70).  The 
significance  of  this  triple  crown,  or  tiara, 
is  indicated  in  the  words  addressed  to 

35 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


!the  Supreme  Pontiff,  when  it  is  pre- 
sented to  him  at  his  consecration:  'Re- 
ceive the  tiara  adorned  with  three  crowns, 
and  know  that  thou  art  the  father  of 
princes  and  kings,  the  ruler  of  the  world, 
and  the  vicar  of  our  Saviour  Jesus 

Christ/  " 

-  -—--^ 

Volume  XII.  of  the  "New  Schaff- 
Herzog  Encyclopedia  of  Religious 
Knowledge,"  in  discussing  the  subject  of 
"Vestments,"  uses  on  page  172  the  fol- 
lowing words: 

"A  special  distinction  is,  however,  the 

(tiara  (regnum,  triregnum).  This  is  the 
princely  emblem  of  the  Pope,  and  is 
therefore  worn  when  his  princely  author- 
ity is  to  be  manifested;  in  liturgical  and 
ecclesiastical  functions  he  wears  instead 
the  episcopal  miter." 

In  the  article  on  the  tiara  in  Volume 
XXVI.  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 
the  following  words  appear  on  page  911 : 

"Tiara,  also  called  regnum,  triregnum 
and  corona,  the  Papal  crown,  a  be^hive- 
shaped,  somewhat  bulging  head-covering, 
ornamented  with  three  cr-owns    (whence 
36 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


triregnum  or  'triple'  crown).     It  has  no  \ 
sacral  character,  being  solely  the  ensign     \ 
of  sovereign  power    (cf.    Innocent   III., 
Serm.    VII.,    in    S.    Silvest:    'Pontijex     I 
romanus  in  signum  imperil  utitur  reg-    I 
no'),    and    is    therefore    never    worn    at 
liturgical     functions,     when     the     Pope 
always  wears  the  miter." 

The  following  definition  is  given  in 
Volume  XII.,  at  page  66,  of  Nelson's 
Encyclopaedia : 

"Tiara,  the  pope's  crown,  which,  in 
its  triple  form,  symbolises  his  temporal 
claims,  as  the  keys  are  the  symbol  of  his 
spiritual  authority.  The  tiara  is  formed 
of  gold  cloth,  encircled  by  three  crowns, 
and  surmounted  by  a  golden  globe  and 
cross.  There  was  a  tradition  that  Boni- 
face VIII.  added  the  second,  while  Urban 
V.  assumed  the  third  of  the  crowns." 


37 


VI 

SOVEREIGNTY   GUARANTEED   BY   LAW 
OF  ITALY 


/**        (3)  The  Italian  Law  of  Papal  Guaran- 
/       tees  of  May  13, 1871,  expressly  reserves 
I        and  accords  to  the  Pope  the  rank  and   J 
\     prerogatives  of  a  sovereign  prince. 

Few  statutes  enacted  by  human  legis- 
latures are  so  important  as  this  law  re- 
specting Papal  guarantees.  Writers  on 
international  law  with  one  accord  recog- 
nize it  as  a  very  potent  factor  in  the 
problem  of  the  present  civil  status  of  the 
Pope.  Discussion  of  the  nature  and 
effect  of  that  law  abounds  in  the  litera- 
ture of  Europe  and  America  on  history 
and  international  law. 

It  was  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  that 
wrested  from  the  Pope  his  sovereignty 
of  the  pontifical  state.  Whatever  sub- 
traction, if  any,  was  made  from  his  rank 
and  prerogatives  by  that  deed  was  made 

38 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


by  the  Italian  Government.  This  statute, 
therefore,  enacted  so  near  the  time  of  the 
subjugation  as  to  be  virtually  a  part  of 
the  same  transaction,  is  particularly  in- 
structive as  showing  the  view  held  by 
Italy  of  its  own  act  and  the  consequences 
resulting  therefrom. 

While  this  law  of  guarantees  has 
never  received  the  full  approval  of  the 
popes,  who  refuse  to  accept  the  annuity 
which  it  accords  to  them,  and  has  never 
been  submitted  to  the  other  nations  for 
express  approval,  the  popes,  by  accepting 
some  of  its  provisions  in  their  behalf,  and 
most  of  the  Governments  by  maintaining 
diplomatic  relations  with  the  Pope  under 
the  protection  and  guarantees  afforded 
by  this  law,  have  at  least  tacitly  recog- 
nized it  as  a  valid  element  in  the  law  of 
nations. 

Though  the  statute  is  somewhat  ex- 
tended, and  a  part  of  its  provisions  have 
little  direct  bearing  on  the  question  of 
Papal  sovereignty,  its  extraordinary  im- 
portance will  justify  its  reproduction  here 
in  full: 

39 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"LAW   OF   PAPAL   GUARANTEES. 

"Victor  Emmanuel  II.,  by  the  grace 
of  God  and  the  will  of  the  nation  King  of 
Italy,  the  Senate  and  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  have  approved,  we  have  sanc- 
tioned and  promulgate  as  follows: 

"SECTION  1.    PREROGATIVES  OF  THE  PON- 
TIFF AND  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE. 

"ARTICLE  I.  The  person  of  the  Su- 
preme Pontiff  is  sacred  and  inviolable. 

"II.  Any  attempt  against  the  person 
of  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  or  any  provoca- 
tion to  commit  the  same,  shall  be  pun- 
ished with  the  same  penalties  as  are 
established  by  law  for  a  similar  attempt 
or  provocation  against  the  King. 

"Any  offenses  or  injuries  publicly 
directed  against  the  person  of  the  Pontiff 
by  word  or  deed,  or  by  any  means  de- 
scribed in  Article  I.  of  the  law  of  the 
press,  shall  be  punished  by  the  penalties 
established  by  Article  XIX.  of  the  afore- 
mentioned law. 

"Such  offenses  are  actionable  on  be- 
half of  the  State,  and  shall  be  tried  by 
the  Court  of  Assize. 

"The  discussion  upon  religious  mat- 
ters is  entirely  free. 

40 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"III.     The  Italian  Government  shall  * 
render   to   the   Supreme   Pontiff,   in   the    \ 
territories  of  the  Kingdom,   the  honors 
which  are  due  to  royal  rank,  and  shall   i 
maintain  the  privileges  of  honor  which  I 
are  paid  to  him  by  Catholic  sovereigns. ' 

"The  Supreme  Pontiff  shall  have  lib- 
erty to  maintain  the  ordinary  number  of 
guards  attached  to  his  person  and  for 
the  custody  of  his  palaces ;  the  said  guards 
shall,  however,  be  bound  by  all  obliga- 
tions and  duties  entailed  upon  them  by 
the  existing  laws  of  the  Kingdom. 

"IV.  The  annual  dotation  of  3,225,000 
lire  in  favor  of  the  Holy  See  is  main- 
tained. 

"The  sum  aforesaid,  equal  to  the  sum 
inscribed  on  the  Roman  Budget  under 
the  head  of  'Sacri  Palazzi  Apostolici, 
Sacro  Collegio,  Congregazioni  ecclesias- 
tiche,  Segreteria  di  Stato,  ed  ordine  dip- 
lomatic all'  estero,'  shall  be  considered 
as  providing  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff,  for  the  diverse  eccle- 
siastical wants  of  the  Holy  See,  for  ordi- 
nary and  extraordinary  repairs  to  and 
the  custody  of  the  Apostolic  Palaces  and 
their  dependencies:  for  allowances,  gra- 
tuities and  pensions  to  the  guards  men- 
tioned in  the  preceding  Article,  and  to 

41 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


all  persons  attached  to  the  Pontifical 
Court,  and  for  eventful  expenditure;  as 
well  as  for  the  ordinary  repairs  and  cus- 
tody of  the  museums  and  library  thereto 
annexed,  and  to  allowances,  stipends  and 
pensions  to  persons  employed  for  that 
purpose. 

"The  dotation  aforesaid  shall  be  in- 
scribed in  the  great  book  of  the  public 
debt,  in  the  form  of  an  annuity  per- 
petual and  inalienable  in  the  name  of  the 
Holy  See;  the  same  shall  likewise  be  paid 
pending  all  vacancies  of  the  See,  in  order 
to  supply  all  the  wants  inherent  to  the 
Roman  Church  during  this  interval. 

"It  shall  be  exempt  from  any  kind  of 
tax  or  charge,  governmental,  municipal, 
or  provincial;  and  it  shall  never  be  re- 
duced, even  in  the  case  that  the  Italian 
Government  should  subsequently  deter- 
mine to  take  charge  of  the  expenditure 
incidental  to  the  museums  and  library. 

"V.  The  Supreme  Pontiff  shall,  be- 
sides the  dotation  fixed  by  preceding 
Article,  have  free  enjoyment  of  the  Apos- 
tolic Palaces  of  the  Vatican  and  the 
Lateran,  with  the  edifices,  gardens  and 
grounds  annexed  and  depending  thereon, 
as  also  the  Villa  of  Castel  Gandolfo,  with 
all  its  accessories  and  dependencies. 

42 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"The  said  palaces,  villa  and  accesso- 
ries, and  likewise  the  museums,  library 
and  artistical  and  archeological  collections 
therein  existing,  shall  be  inalienable  and 
exempt  from  all  tax  or  charge,  and  from 
expropriation  for  public  purposes. 

"VI.  During  the  vacancy  of  the  Pon- 
tifical See,  no  judicial  or  political  author- 
ity shall,  on  any  pretense  whatsoever, 
offer  any  impediment  or  limitation  to  the 
personal  liberty  of  the  Cardinals. 

"The  Government  shall  take  proper 
measures  in  order  that  the  Assemblies 
of  the  Conclave  and  (Ecumenical  Coun- 
cils be  not  disturbed  by  any  external 
violence. 

"VII.  No  public  officer  or  agent  of 
the  public  force  shall  be  permitted,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  functions,  to  penetrate 
into  the  palaces  or  places  the  habitual 
residence  or  temporary  sojourn  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff,  or  in  which  a  Conclave 
or  (Ecumenical  Council  may  be  assem- 
bled, without  the  authorization  of  the 
Supreme  Pontiff,  or  of  the  said  Conclave 
or  (Ecumenical  Council. 

"VIII.  It  is  likewise  forbidden  to 
visit,  search,  or  seize  any  papers,  docu- 
ments, books  or  registers  in  the  Pontifical 
offices  or  congregations  which  may  be 

43 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


invested  with  a  merely  spiritual  char- 
acter. 

"IX.  The  Supreme  Pontiff  shall  have 
full  liberty  to  exercise  all  the  functions 
of  his  spiritual  ministry,  and  to  cause  all 
the  acts  pertaining  thereto  to  be  affixed 
at  the  doors  of  the  basilicas  and  churches 
in  Rome. 

"X.  No  person  or  persons  clothed 
with  an  ecclesiastical  character,  who,  by 
virtue  of  their  office,  may  take  part  in 
the  publication  of  any  act  of  the  spiritual 
ministry  of  the  Holy  See,  shall  be  sub- 
ject, on  account  thereof,  to  any  molesta- 
tion, investigation,  or  examination  on  the 
part  of  the  public  authorities. 

"Any  foreign  person  invested  with  an 
ecclesiastical  office  in  Rome  shall  enjoy 
the  personal  rights  which  belong  to 
Italian  citizens  by  force  of  the  laws  of 
the  Kingdom. 

"XL  The  Envoys  of  foreign  Govern- 
ments to  His  Holiness  shall  enjoy,  in  the 
Kingdom,  all  the  rights  and  immunities 
which  belong  to  Diplomatic  Agents,  in 
accordance  with  international  law. 

"Such  offenses  as  may  be  committed 
against  the  said  Envoys  shall  be  pun- 
ished with  the  same  penalties  as  are 
established  for  the  offenses  committed 

44 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


against  foreign  Envoys  to  the  Italian 
Government. 

"The  rights  and  immunities  estab- 
lished in  accordance  with  international 
law  are  hereby  ensured,  in  the  territories 
of  the  Kingdom,  to  the  Envoys  of  His 
Holiness  to  the  foreign  Governments,  both 
in  going  to  or  returning  from  the  place  of 
their  mission. 

"XII.  The  Supreme  Pontiff  shall  be 
at  liberty  to  correspond  with  the  Episco- 
pate, and  with  the  whole  Catholic  world, 
without  any  interference  on  the  part  of 
the  Italian  Government. 

"To  this  effect  he  shall  be  free  to 
establish  in  the  Vatican,  or  in  any  other 
of  his  residences,  postal  and  telegraphic 
offices,  and  to  employ  therein  persons  of 
his  choice. 

"The  Pontifical  Post-office  shall  be 
allowed  either  to  correspond  directly  by 
closed  mail  with  the  exchange  Post-office 
of  foreign  States,  or  to  deliver  its  corre- 
spondence into  the  Italian  Post-offices. 

"In  either  case,  the  transmission  of 
despatches  or  correspondence,  bearing 
the  stamp  of  the  Pontifical  Post-offices, 
shall  be  free  from  any  tax  or  charge 
throughout  the  Italian  territory. 

"Messengers  commissioned  by  the  Su- 

45 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


preme  Pontiff  shall  be  placed,  in  the  King- 
dom, on  the  same  footing  as  the  Cabinet 
messengers  of  foreign  Governments. 

"The  Pontifical  Telegraphic  Office 
shall  be  connected  with  the  telegraphic 
lines  of  the  Kingdom,  at  the  charge  of 
the  State. 

"Telegraphic  despatches  issued  by  the 
said  office,  and  bearing  the  authentic 
qualification  of  'Pontificii/  shall  be  re- 
ceived and  transmitted  with  the  same 
privileges  which  are  conceded  to  State 
telegrams;  they  shall  also  be  exempt 
from  any  tax  in  the  Kingdom. 

"Similar  advantages  shall  be  extended 
to  telegrams  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff,  or 
signed  by  his  order,  bearing  the  stamp 
of  the  Holy  See,  which  may  be  presented 
at  any  telegraphic  office  of  the  Kingdom. 

"Telegrams  addressed  to  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  shall  be  exempt  from  the  taxes 
usually  charged  to  the  receiver. 

"XIII.  Seminaries,  academies,  col- 
leges and  other  institutions  for  the  educa- 
tion and  tuition  of  members  of  the  priest- 
hood, in  the  City  of  Rome,  and  in  the  six 
suburban  sees,  shall  remain  exclusively 
dependent  on  the  Holy  See,  without  any 
interference  on  the  part  of  the  school 
authorities  of  the  Kingdom. 

46 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


"SECTION  2.    RELATIONS  OF  CHURCH 
AND  STATE. 

"XIV.  Every  special  restriction  of 
the  right  of  assemblage  of  members  of 
the  Catholic  clergy  is  hereby  annulled. 

"XV.  The  Government  hereby  re- 
nounces its  right  of  'Legazia  Apostolica' 
in  Sicily,  as  also  its  right  of  appointment 
of  representation  in  the  collation  of  the 
higher  benefices  throughout  the  King- 
dom. 

"Bishops  shall  not  be  required  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  King. 

"The  higher  and  lesser  benefices  shall 
be  conferred  solely  upon  citizens  of  the 
Kingdom,  with  the  exception  of  such 
benefices  as  are  situate  in  the  City  of 
Rome  and  in  the  suburban  sees. 

"No  new  provision  is  made  for  the 
collation  of  benefices  in  the  patronage  of 
the  Crown. 

"XVI.  The  'exequatur'  and  the 
'placet'  of  the  Crown  and  every  other 
form  of  Government  warrant  for  the 
publication  and  execution  of  acts  emana- 
ting from  ecclesiastical  authorities  are 
hereby  abolished. 

"All  acts,  however,  of  the  authorities 
aforesaid,  concerning  the  settlement  of 

47 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


ecclesiastical  estates,  and  the  provision 
for  the  higher  and  lesser  benefices,  with 
exception  of  those  which  are  situate  in 
the  City  of  Rome  and  in  the  suburban 
sees,  shall  remain  subject  to  the  'exe- 
quatur' and  the  'placet'  of  the  Crown, 
until  it  be  otherwise  provided  by  the 
special  law  mentioned  in  Article  XVIII. 

"No  change  is  made  in  regard  to  the 
enactments  of  civil  laws  respecting  the 
creation  and  modes  of  existence  of  eccle- 
siastical institutions,  and  the  alienation 
of  their  estate. 

"XVII.  No  complaint  or  appeal  from 
acts  issued  .by  the  ecclesiastical  author- 
ities, in  matters  spiritual  or  disciplinary, 
shall  be  allowed;  no  compulsory  execu- 
tion, however,  shall  be  acknowledged  or 
granted  to  the  acts  aforesaid.  The  cog- 
nizance of  the  legal  effects  of  the  said 
acts,  or  of  any  act  whatsoever  of  the 
last-mentioned  authorities,  belongs  to  the 
civil  magistrates. 

"Should  these  acts,  however,  be  found 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  State,  or  to 
public  order,  or  detrimental  to  the  rights 
of  private  citizens,  they  shall  remain 
without  effect,  and  they  shall  be  subject 
to  penal  law,  should  they  constitute  a 
misdemeanor. 

48 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"XVIII.  Provision  shall  be  made  by  a 
further  enactment  for  the  reorganization, 
the  conservation,  and  the  administration 
of  ecclesiastical  property  throughout  the 
Kingdom. 

"XIX.  Any  provision  of  law  now  in 
force,  concerning  matters  contemplated 
by  this  present  enactment,  in  so  far  as 
they  be  contrary  to  the  same,  shall  hence- 
forth be  null  and  void. 

"We  order  that  the  present  Law,  pro- 
vided with  the  Seal  of  State,  be  inserted 
in  the  official  collection  of  the  Laws  and 
Decrees  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  charg- 
ing all  whom  it  may  concern  to  obey  and 
cause  it  to  be  obeyed  as  a  Law  of  the 
State. 

"Given  in  Turin,  May  13,  1871. 
"VICTOR  EMMANUEL. 
"G.  LANZA. 

,   "E.  VISCONTI-VENOSTA. 
"GIOVANNI  DE  FALCO. 
"QUINTINO  SELLO. 
"C.  CORRENTI. 

"C.    RlCOTTI. 

"G.  ACTON. 
"CASTAGNOLA. 
•   "G.  GADDA." 

—British   State  Papers,   Vol.    LXV.,   p. 
638. 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


The  provision  in  clause  3  of  the  fore- 
going law  for  the  honors  of  royal  rank 
to  be  accorded  to  the  Pope  by  the  Italian 
Government  makes  the  definition  of  the 
term  "royal  honors"  matter  of  import- 
ance. Bouvier's  "Law  Dictionary," 
Rawle's  third  revision,  gives  at  page 
2,975  the  following  definition: 

"ROYAL  HONORS. — In  diplomatic  lan- 
guage, by  this  term  is  understood  the 
rights  enjoyed  by  every  empire  or  king- 
dom in  Europe,  by  the  Pope,  the  grand 
duchies  of  Germany,  and  the  Swiss  con- 
federation, to  precedence  over  all  others 
who  do  not  enjoy  the  same  rank,  with 
the  exclusive  right  of  sending  to  other 
states  public  ministers  of  the  first  rank, 
as  ambassadors,  together  with  other  dis- 
tinctive titles  and  ceremonies." 

Some  confusion  and  misunderstand- 
ing have  arisen  from  the  unfortunate 
terminology  used  by  many  writers  on  the 
loss  to  the  Papacy  of  the  pontifical  state. 
Many  authors  refer  to  that  event  as 
terminating  the  temporal  power  of  the 
Pope,  though  the  same  authors  recognize 
temporal  sovereignty  in  him  after  that 

50 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


loss.  It  would  be  more  precise  to  refer 
to  the  incorporation  of  the  Papal  State 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  as  divesting 
the  Pope  of  his  territorial  dominion 
rather  than  divesting  him  of  temporal 
power.  In  order  to  grasp  the  real  situa- 
tion and  the  thought  present  in  the  mind 
of  these  authors,  due  allowance  should  be 
made  for  this  apparent  looseness  of 
terminology. 

Provisions  contained  in  the  foregoing 
statute  show  clearly  that  Italy  had  no 
intention  of  disturbing  the  prerogatives 
of  the  Pope  as  sovereign  pontiff  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  The  inviola- 
bility of  person  accorded  to  him  in  the 
first  clauses  of  this  law  is  an  attribute 
belonging  to  every  sovereign  and  to  no 
one  else.  Moreover,  he  is  expressly  guar- 
anteed the  dignity  and  honors  of  royal 
rank.  The  place  of  his  residence  or  tem- 
porary sojourn  is  exempted  from  any 
control  or  interference  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  Italy  or  its  officials.  The  same 
exemption  is  extended  to  conclaves  and 
oecumenical  councils. 

51 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Provision  is  made  whereby  the  Pope 
may  send  and  receive  envoys  under  the 
same  protection  and  immunities  enjoyed 
by  diplomatic  agents  to  and  from  the 
king.  Ample  facilities  are  provided  for 
communication  by  mail  and  telegraph  be- 
tween the  sovereign  pontiff  and  the  entire 
world,  including  the  hierarchy  and  mem- 
bership of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  every  land. 

As  stated  in  an  earlier  paragraph  of 
this  work,  the  claims  of  the  Pope  to 
sovereign  power  prior  to  1870  were  sup- 
ported by  his  character  as  monarch  of 
the  Papal  State  and  also  by  his  position 
as  supreme  pontiff  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  It  was  established  by  the  author- 
ities on  international  law  that  the  im- 
mense sovereign  prestige  exercised  by 
him  in  the  politics  of  the  world  could  not 
arise  from  his  position  in  the  small  Papal 
State,  but  was  due  to  his  rank  as  sover- 
eign pontiff. 

The  foregoing  law  of  guarantees 
demonstrates  that  Italy,  when  divesting 
him  of  the  Papal  State,  had  no  intention 

52 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


to  impair  his  sovereign  rank  as  pontiff. 
All  the  essential  rights  and  prerogatives 
of  the  latter  rank  were  expressly  recog- 
nized and  perpetuated  by  this  statute, 
and  he  is  still  clothed  with  all  the  sover- 
eignty pertaining  to  that  rank. 


53 


VII 

STILL  CLAIMS  PRE-EMINENT  SOVER- 
EIGNTY 

(4)  The  highest  Roman  Catholic  au- 
thorities, including  popes  and  oecumen- 
ical councils,  claim  for  the  Pope  supreme 
and  pre-eminent  sovereignty  throughout 
the  world. 

The  immense  civil  and  political  power 
wielded  by  the  popes  in  the  Middle  Ages 
has  already  been  set  forth  in  this  work 
and  established  by  quotations  from  lead- 
ing writers  on  international  law.  It  is 
clear  that  such  power  can  not  coexist 
with  real  sovereignty  and  independence 
of  the  state. 

But  some  of  the  greatest  popes  and 
oecumenical  councils  will  now  be  per- 
mitted to  state  the  Papal  claims  to 
sovereignty.  The  Papacy  reached  the 
zenith  of  its  civil  power  in  the  reign  of 
Innocent  the  Third  early  in  the  thirteenth 

—  ""54 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


century.  None  of  his  predecessors  had 
wielded  a  dominion  so  bold,  so  extended 
and  so  absolute.  This  great  pontiff,  in 
his  triumphant  conflict  with  Philip 
Augustus,  King  of  France,  addressed  to 
that  powerful  monarch  the  following 
pungent  statement: 

"To  princes  power  is  given  on  earth, 
but  to  priests  it  is  attributed  also  in 
heaven;  to  the  former  only  over  bodies, 
to  the  latter  also  over  souls.  Whence  it 
follows  that  by  so  much  as  the  soul  is 
superior  to  the  body,  the  priesthood  is 
superior  to  the  kingship.  .  .  .  Single 
rulers  have  single  provinces,  and  single 
kings,  single  kingdoms;  but  Peter,  as  in 
the  ^plenitude,  so  in  the  extent  of  his 
power,  is  pre-eminent  over  all,  since  he 
is  the  Vicar  of  Him  whose  is  the  earth 
and  the  fulness  thereof,  the  whole  wide 
world  and  all  that  dwell  therein." — 
Encyclopaedia  Britannic  a,  Vol.  XIV.,  p. 
579. 

Few  utterances  touching  Papal  sover- 
eignty have  received  more  attention  than 
the  famous  bull  issued  in  1302  by  Boni- 
face VIII.  against  Philip  the  Fair,  King 
55 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  France.  Notwithstanding  imputations 
of  heresy  against  that  pope,  the  greatest 
Roman  Catholic  authorities  of  later  times 
unhesitatingly  declare  this  bull  to  be  a 
valid  and  irreformable  declaration  of 
ecclesiastical  law.  Following  is  an 
English  translation  of  the  bull  in  its 
entirety : 

FAMOUS  BULL  UNAM  SANCTAM  OF 
BONIFACE  VIII. 

"Boniface,  Bishop,  Servant  of  the 
servants  of  God.  For  perpetual  remem- 
brance : — 

"Urged  on  by  our  faith,  we  are  obliged 
to  believe  and  hold  that  there  is  one  holy, 
catholic,  and  apostolic  Church.  And  we 
firmly  believe  and  profess  that  outside  of 
her  there  is  no  salvation  nor  remission 
of  sins,  as  the  bridegroom  declares  in  the 
canticles,  'My  dove,  my  undefiled,  is  but 
one,  she  is  the  only  one  of  her  mother; 
she  is  the  choice  of  her  that  bare  her.' 
And  this  represents  the  one  mystical  body 
of  Christ,  and  of  this  body  Christ  is  the 
head,  and  God  is  the  head  of  Christ.  In 
it  there  is  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism. For  in  the  time  of  the  Flood  there 

56 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


was  the  single  ark  of  Noah,  which  pre- 
figures the  one  church,  and  it  was  finished 
according  to  the  measure  of  one  cubit 
and  had  one  Noah  for  pilot  and  captain, 
and  outside  of  it  every  living  creature  on 
the  earth,  as  we  read,  was  destroyed. 
And  this  Church  we  revere  as  the  only 
one,  even  as  the  Lord  saith  by  the  proph- 
et, 'Deliver  my  soul  from  the  sword,  my 
darling  from  the  power  of  the  dog.' 
He  prayed  for  his  soul,  that  is,  for  him- 
self, head  and  body.  And  this  body 
he  called  one  body,  that  is,  the  Church, 
because  of  the  single  bridegroom,  the 
unity  of  the  faith,  the  sacraments,  and 
the  love  of  the  Church.  She  is  that 
seamless  shirt  of  the  Lord  which  was 
not  rent,  but  was  allotted  by  the  casting 
of  lots.  Therefore,  this  one  and  single 
Church  has  one  head  and  not  two  heads, 
— for  had  she  two  heads,  she  would  be  a 
monster, — that  is,  Christ  and  Christ's 
vicar  Peter  and  Peter's  successor.  For 
the  Lord  said  unto  Peter,  'Feed  my 
sheep.'  'My,'  he  said,  speaking  gener- 
ally and  not  particularly,  'these  and 
those,'  by  which  it  is  to  be  understood 
that  all  the  sheep  are  committed  unto 
him.  So,  when  the  Greeks  or  others  say 
that  they  were  not  committed  to  the  care 
57 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  Peter  and  his  successors,  they  must 
confess  that  they  are  not  of  Christ's 
sheep,  even  as  the  Lord  says  in  John, 
There  is  one  fold  and  one  shepherd/ 

"That  in  her  and  within  her  power  are 
two  swords,  we  are  taught  in  the  Gos- 
pels, namely,  the  spiritual  sword  and  the 
temporal  sword.  For  when  the  Apostles 
said,  'Lo,  here' — that  is,  in  the  Church, 
— are  two  swords,  the  Lord  did  not  reply 
to  the  Apostles  'it  is  too  much/  but  'it 
is  enough.'  It  is  certain  that  whoever 
denies  that  the  temporal  sword  is  in  the 
power  of  Peter,  hearkens  ill  to  the  words 
of  the  Lord  which  he  spake,  'Put  up  thy 
sword  into  its  sheath.'  Therefore,  both 
are  in  the  power  of  the  Church,  namely, 
the  spiritual  sword  and  the  temporal 
sword;  the  latter  is  to  be  used  for  the 
Church,  the  former  by  the  Church;  the 
former  by  the  hand  of  the  priest,  the 
latter  by  the  hand  of  the  princes  and 
kings,  but  at  the  nod  and  sufferance  of 
the  priest.  The  one  sword  must  of 
necessity  be  subject  to  the  other,  and  the 
temporal  authority  to  the  spiritual.  For 
the  Apostle  said,  'There  is  no  power  but 
of  God,  and  the  powers  that  be  are  or- 
dained of  God;'  and  they  would  not  have 
been  ordained  unless  one  sword  had  been 

58 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


made  subject  to  the  other,  and  even  as 
the  lower  is  subjected  by  the  other  for 
higher  things.  For,  according  to  Diony- 
sius,  it  is  a  divine  law  that  the  lowest 
things  are  made  by  mediocre  things  to 
attain  to  the  highest.  For  it  is  not  ac- 
cording to  the  law  of  the  universe  that 
all  things  in  an  equal  way  and  immedi- 
ately should  reach  their  end,  but  the 
lowest  through  the  mediocre  and  the 
lower  through  the  higher.  But  that  the 
spiritual  power  excels  the  earthly  power 
in  dignity  and  worth,  we  will  the  more 
clearly  acknowledge  just  in  proportion  as 
the  spiritual  is  higher  than  the  temporal. 
And  this  we  perceive  quite  distinctly 
from  the  donation  of  the  tithe  and  func- 
tions of  benediction  and  sanctification, 
from  the  mode  in  which  the  power  was 
received,  and  the  government  of  the  sub- 
jected realms.  For  truth  being  the  wit- 
ness, the  spiritual  power  has  the  func- 
tions of  establishing  the  temporal  power 
and  sitting  in  judgment  on  it  if  it  should 
prove  to  be  not  good!  And  to  the 
Church,  and  the  Church's  power,  the 
prophecy  of  Jeremiah  attests:  'See,  I 
have  this  day  set  thee  over  the  na- 
tions and  the  kingdoms,  to  pluck  up 
and  to  break  down  and  to  destroy 

59 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


and  to  overthrow,  to  build  and  to  plant.' 
"And  if  the  earthly  power  deviate 
from  the  right  path,  it  is  judged  by  the 
spiritual  power;  but  if  a  minor  spiritual 
power  deviate  from  the  right  path,  the 
lower  in  rank  is  judged  by  its  superior; 
but  if  the  supreme  power  (the  Papacy) 
deviate,  it  can  be  judged  not  by  man,  but 
by  God  alone.  And  so  the  Apostle  testi- 
fies: 'He  which  is  spiritual  judges  all 
things,  but  he  himself  is  judged  by  no 
man.'  But  this  authority,  although  it 
be  given  to  man,  and  though  it  be  exer- 
cised by  a  man,  is  not  a  human,  but  a 
divine,  power  given  by  divine  word  of 
mouth  to  Peter  and  confirmed  to  Peter 
and  to  his  successors  by  Christ  himself, 
whom  Peter  confessed,  even  him  whom 
Christ  called  a  rock.  For  the  Lord  said 
to  Peter  himself,  'Whatsoever  thou  shalt 
bind  on  earth,'  etc.  Whoever,  therefore, 
resists  this  power  so  ordained  by  God, 
resists  the  ordinance  of  God,  unless  per- 
chance he  imagine  two  principles  to  exist, 
as  did  Manichaeus,  which  we  pronounce 
false  and  heretical.  For  Moses  testified 
that  God  created  heaven  and  earth,  not 
in  the  beginnings,  but  'in  the  beginning.' 
"Furthermore,  that  every  human  crea- 
ture is  subject  to  the  Roman  pontiff, — 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


this  we  declare,  say,  define,  and  pro- 
nounce to  be  altogether  necessary  to 
salvation." — History  of  the  Christian 
Church,  by  Schaff,  Vol.  V.,  Part  II., 
p.  25. 

When  addressing  the  cardinals  in 
opposition  to  Colonna,  Pope  Boniface 
VIII.  spoke  as  follows: 

[Translation  from  the  German.] 

"How  shall  we  assume  to  judge  kings 
and   princes,    and   not    dare    to   proceed 
against  a  worm!     Let  them  perish  for- 
ever, that  they  may  understand  that  the 
name  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  is  known  in   . 
all  the  earth  and  that  he  alone  is  most  j     A 
high    over    princes." — Aus    den    Tagen  I 
Bonijaz  VI1L,  p.  152  et  seq. 

Lest  it  may  be  contended  that  the 
foregoing  Papal  declarations  belong  to 
the  darkness  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  are 
rio  longer  recognized  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  it  is  proper  to  state  that 
these  and  all  other  official  words  and 
deeds  of  the  Papacy  since  its  institution 
have  been  expressly  reaffirmed  with 
emphasis  by  the  greatest  popes  of  the 

61 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


nineteenth  and  twentieth  centuries.  On 
December  8,  1864,  Pope  Pius  IX.  issued 
his  "Syllabus  of  Erros,"  wherein  he  col- 
lated in  brief  paragraphs  eighty  alleged 
heresies  which  had  been  condemned  in 
his  previous  letters,  encyclicals  and  allo- 
cutions. 

The  peculiar  form  of  this  Syllabus 
renders  it  liable  to  misunderstanding  by 
casual  readers.  The  Pope  merely  states 
in  concise  paragraphs  the  respective  doc- 
trines which  he  condemns.  He  holds  and 
teaches,  therefore,  the  negative  or  oppo- 
site of  these  doctrines  as  stated  and  con- 
demned in  the  Syllabus. 

In  paragraph  23  of  this  Syllabus,  the 
Pope  denounces  and  condemns  the  doc- 
trine that 

"The  Roman  Pontiff  and  (Ecumenical 
Councils  have  exceeded  the  limits  of  their 
power,  have  usurped  the  rights  of  princes, 
and  have  even  committed  errors  in  defin- 
ing matters  of  faith  and  morals." 

In  so  denying  and  condemning  the 
statement  that  Roman  pontiffs  and  coun- 
cils have  exceeded  their  powers  and 

62 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


usurped  the  rights  of  princes  and  com- 
mitted doctrinal  errors,  Pius  IX.  affirms 
that  his  predecessors  have  not  committed 
the  wrongs  charged  in  the  paragraph. 
He  thus  expressly  reaffirms  the  doctrines 
and  conduct  of  all  preceding  popes. 

Pope  Leo  XIII.,  in  his  "Encyclical 
Letter  Immortale  Dei,"  of  November  1, 
1885,  also  reaffirms  the  teaching  of  all 
earlier  pontiffs  in  the  following  words: 

"If,  in  the  difficult  times  in  which  our 
lot  is  cast,  Catholics  will  give  ear  to  Us, 
as  it  behooves  them  to  do,  they  will  read- 
ily see  what  are  the  duties  of  each  one  in 
matters  of  opinion  as  well  as  action.  As 
regards  opinion,  whatever  _the  Roman 
pontiffs  have  hitherto  taucjht,  or  shall 
hereafter  teach,  must  be  held^with  a  firm 
grasp  of  mind,  and]  so  often  as  occasion 
requires,  must  be  openly  professed^ 

"Especially  with  reference  to  the  so- 
called  'Liberties'  which  are  so  greatly 
coveted  in  these  days,  all  must  stand  by 
the  judgment  of  the  Apostolic  See,  and 
have  the  same  mind." — Great  Encyclical 
Letters  of  Leo  XIII. ,  pp.  129,  130. " 

In  the  foregoing  statement  Leo  XIII. 

68 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


adds  the  sanction  of  his  approval  of  all 
that  Roman  pontiffs  had  taught  in  the 
past  and  all  that  they  would  teach  in  the 
future.  Like  Pius  IX.,  therefore,  he  re- 
affirms as  infallible  and  irreformable  the 
extravagant  claims  made  by  all  his  pred- 
ecessors. 

The  "Catholic  Directory  for  1916," 
published  with  official  sanction  and  ap- 
proval of  the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy, 
of  which  the  Pope  is  the  sovereign  head, 
gives  on  page  1  the  following  as  the 
official  title  of  the  Pope : 

"His  HOLINESS  THE  POPE 

"Bishop  of  Rome  and  vicar  of  Jesus 
Christ, 

"Successor  of  St.  Peter,  prince  of  the 
apostles, 

"Supreme  pontiff  of  the  universal 
church, 

"Patriarch  of  the  West,  primate  of 
Italy, 

"Archbishop  and  metropolitan  of  the 
Roman  province, 

"Sovereign  of  the  temporal  dominions 
of  the  Holy  Roman  Church" 

64 


VIII 

STILL  CLAIMS  PRE-EMINENT  SOVER- 
EIGNTY (Continued) 

DUT  the  Roman  Church  in  recent  times 
•^  has  not  been  satisfied  with  merely 
reaffirming  the  claims  to  sovereignty  of 
the  earlier  pontiffs.  Pope  Pius  IX.  con- 
vened at  Rome  in  1870  the  last  oecumeni- 
cal council  that  has  been  held.  It  is  known 
as  the  Vatican  Council,  and  its  decrees 
concerning  the  attributes  and  sovereign 
pre-eminence  of  the  Pope  so  far  transcend 
all  claims  previously  made  as  to  revolu- 
tionize the  legal  status  of  the  Papacy  in 
its  relation  to  civil  government.  The  pre- 
rogatives attributed  to  the  Roman  pontiff 
by  the  solemn  decrees  of  that  council  sur- 
pass the  most  extravagant  powers  ac- 
corded to  any  institution,  political  or 
ecclesiastical,  in  all  the  past  history  of 
mankind. 

The  most  significant  statements  em- 
5  65 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


anating  from  the  Vatican  Council  relative 
to  the  attributes  of  the  sovereign  pontiff 
are  contained  in  Chapters  III.  and  IV.  of 
the  "Dogmatic  Decrees."  Though  atten- 
tion of  the  public  has  been  directed  less 
to  the  third  chapter  than  to  the  fourth, 
declarations  contained  in  the  former  bear 
even  more  directly  on  the  civil  and  eccle- 
siastical supremacy  of  the  Roman  pontiff. 
Moreover,  the  decree  of  infallibility 
contained  in  the  fourth  chapter  is  by  its 
own  terms  limited  to  utterances  wherein 
the  pontiff  speaks  ex  cathedra,  while  no 
such  limitation  applies  to  the  statements 
in  the  third  chapter.  These  statements 
require  unconditional  submission  and  obe- 
dience to  Papal  discipline  and  authority 
on  the  part  of  every  Roman  Catholic  in 
the  world.  The  following  paragraphs  in 
the  third  chapter  fairly  indicate  the  scope 
and  spirit  of  that  chapter: 

"Hence  we  teach  and  declare  that  by 
the  appointment  of  our  Lord  the  Roman 
Church  possesses  a  superiority  of  ordi- 
nary power  over  all  other  churches,  and 
that  this  power  of  jurisdiction  of  the 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Roman  Pontiff,  which  is  truly  episcopal, 
is  immediate;  to  which  all,  of  whatever 
rite  and  dignity,  b'oth  pastors  and  faith- 
ful, both  individually  and  collectively,  are 
bound,  by  their  duty  of  hierarchial  sub- 
ordination and  true  obedience,  to  submit 
not  only  in  matters  which  belong  to  faith 
and  morals,  but  also  in  those  that  apper- 
tain to  the  discipline  and  government  of 
the  Church  throughout  the  world,  so  that 
the  Church  of  Christ  may  be  one  flock 
under  one  supreme  pastor  through  the 
preservation  of  unity  both  of  communion 
and  of  profession  of  the  same  faith  with 
the  Roman  Pontiff.  This  is  the  teaching 
of  Catholic  truth,  from  which  no  one  can 
deviate  without  loss  of  faith  and  of  sal- 
vation."— Dogmatic  Canons  and  Decrees 
(New  York,  1912),  bearing  the  Impri- 
matur of  Cardinal  Farley,  pp.  247,  248. 

"If,  then,  any  shall  say  that  the  Roman 
Pontiff  has  the  office  merely  of  inspection 
or  direction,  and  not  full  and  supreme 
power  of  jurisdiction  over  the  universal 
Church,  not  only  in  things  which  belong 
to  faith  and  morals,  but  also  in  those 
which  relate  to  the  discipline  and  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  spread  throughout 
the  world;  or  assert  that  he  possesses 

67 


PAPAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


merely  the  principal  part,  and  not  all  the 
fullness  of  this  supreme  power;  or  that 
this  power  which  he  enjoys  is  not  ordi- 
nary and  immediate,  both  over  each  and 
all  the  churches,  and  over  each  and  all  the 
pastors  and  the  faithful — let  him  be 
anathema." — Id.,  p.  250. 

There  is  manifestly  great  significance 
in  the  fact  that  collective  obedience  is  ex- 
pressly required  in  the  foregoing  dogma. 
Resistance  to  Papal  aggressions  has  sel- 
dom been  offered  by  individuals.  Such 
resistance  has  come  chiefly  from  states 
or  the  sovereign  rulers  of  states.  The 
most  withering  ecclesiastical  weapon  in 
the  hands  of  the  Pope  has  been  in  all  past 
ages  the  interdict,  which  operates  against 
states  and  peoples  in  their  collective  char- 
acter. 

With  these  facts  the  sagacious  prel- 
ates in  the  Vatican  Council  were  perfectly 
conversant,  and  the  form  of  the  dogma 
under  consideration  is  therefore  a  master 
stroke  of  their  political  discernment  and 
skill.  In  1875  William  E.  Gladstone  pub- 
lished a  most  admirable  tract  on  'The 

68 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Vatican  Decrees  in  Their  Bearing  on 
Civil  Allegiance."  His  comment  on  the 
decree  of  obedience  to  Papal  authority, 
set  forth  in  the  third  chapter  of  "The 
Dogmatic  Decrees,"  is  at  once  so  judi- 
cious and  so  forceful  as  to  justify  the  fol- 
lowing quotation : 

MR.    GLADSTONE'S    STATEMENT. 

"Even  therefore,  where  the  judgments 
of  the  Pope  do  not  present  the  credentials 
of  Infallibility,  they  are  unappealable  and 
irreversible:  no  person  may  pass  judg- 
ment upon  them ;  and  all  men,  clerical  and 
lay,  dispersedly  or  in  the  aggregate,  are 
bound  truly  to  obey  them;  and  from  this 
rule  of  Catholic  truth  no  man  can  depart, 
save  at  the  peril  of  his  salvation.  Surely, 
it  is  allowable  to  say  that  this  Third 
Chapter  on  universal  Obedience  is  a  for- 
midable rival  to  the  Fourth  Chapter  on 
Infallibility.  Indeed,  to  an  observer  from 
without,  it  seems  to  leave  the  dignity  to 
the  other,  but  to  reserve  the  stringency 
and  efficiency  to  itself.  The  Third  Chap- 
ter is  the  Merovingian  Monarch;  the 
Fourth  is  the  Carolingian  Mayor  of  the 
Palace.  The  Third  has  an  overawing 
splendor ;  the  Fourth,  an  iron  grip.  Little 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


does  it  matter  to  me  whether  my  supe- 
/  rior  claims  infallibility,  so  long  as  he 
is  entitled  to  demand  and  exact  con- 
formity. This,  it  will  be  observed,  he 
demands  even  in  cases  not  covered  by  his 
infallibility;  cases,  therefore,  in  which  he 
admits  it  to  be  possible  that  he  may  be 
wrong,  but  finds  it  intolerable  to  be  told 
so.  As  he  must  be  obeyed  in  all  his 
judgments,  though  not  ex  cathedra,  it 
seems  a  pity  he  could  not  likewise  give 
the  comforting  assurance  that  they  are 
all  certain  to  be  right. 

"But  why  this  ostensible  reduplication 
— this  apparent  surplusage?  Why  did 
the  astute  contrivers  of  this  tangled 
scheme  conclude  that  they  could  not  afford 
to  rest  content  with  pledging  the  Council 
to  infallibility  in  terms  which  are  not  only 
wide  to  a  high  degree,  but  elastic  beyond 
all  measure? 

"Though  they  must  have  known  per- 

;  fectly  well  that  'faith  and  morals'  car- 

'  ried    everything,    or    everything    worth 

having,  in  the  purely  individual  sphere, 

they  also  knew  just  as  well  that,   even 

where    the    individual    was    subjugated, 

they  might  and  would  still  have  to  deal 

with  the  State. 

"In  mediaeval  history,  this  distinction 
70 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


is  not  only  clear,  but  glaring.  Outside 
the  borders  of  some  narrow  and  pro- 
scribed sect,  now  and  then  emerging,  we 
never,  or  scarcely  ever,  hear  of  private 
and  personal  resistance  to  the  Pope.  The 
manful  'Protestantism'  of  mediaeval 
times  had  its  activity  almost  entirely 
in  the  sphere  of  public,  national,  and 
State  rights.  Too  much  attention,  in  my 
opinion,  can  not  be  fastened  on  this  point. 
It  is  the  very  root  and  kernel  of  the  mat- 
ter. Individual  servitude,  however  ab- 
ject, will  not  satisfy  the  party  now  domi- 
nant in  the  Latin  Church:  the  State  must 
also  be  a  slave." — Pages  28,  29yr- — 

We  come  now  to  consider  the  decree 
of  infallibility  contained  in  the  fourth 
chapter  of  the  "Dogmatic  Decrees."  In 
order  that  the  substance  of  that  decree 
may  be  clearly  known  and  correctly 
understood,  the  concluding  paragraphs 
summing  up  the  essence  of  the  decree  are 
copied  here  verbatim: 

"Therefore,  faithfully  adhering  to  the 
tradition  received  from  the  beginning  of 
the  Christian  faith,  for  the  glory  of  God 
our  Saviour,  the  exaltation  of  the  Cath- 
olic religion,  and  the  salvation  of  Chris- 

71 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


tian  people,  the  sacred  Council  approving, 
we  teach  and  define  that  it  is  a  dogma 
divinely  revealed:  that  the  Roman  Pon- 
tiff, when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra,  that  is, 
when  in  discharge  of  the  office  of  pastor 
and  doctor  of  all  Christians,  by  virtue  of 
his  supreme  Apostolic  authority,  he  de- 
fines a  doctrine  regarding  faith  or  morals 
to  be  held  by  the  universal  Church,  by 
the  divine  assistance  promised  to  him  in 
blessed  Peter,  is  possessed  of  that  infalli- 
bility with  which  the  divine  Redeemer 
willed  that  his  Church  should  be  endowed 
for  defining  doctrine  regarding  faith  and 
morals;  and  that  therefore  such  defini- 
tions of  the  Roman  Pontiff  are  irreform- 
able  of  themselves,  and  not  from  the  con- 
sent of  the  Church. 

"But  if  any  one — which  may  God 
avert — presume  to  contradict  this  our 
definition:  let  him  be  anathema." — Dog- 
matic Canons  and  Decrees,  pp.  256-7. 

Such  is  the  famous  doctrine  of  Papal 
infallibility.  For  hundreds  of  years  the 
claim  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  to 
infallibility  had  been  an  issue  of  conten- 
tion in  many  forums.  Both  in  the  arena 
of  polemics  and  in  seeking  to  justify  their 

72 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


claims  to  citizenship  and  the  franchise, 
Roman  prelates  have  denied  with  much 
industry  and  vehemence  any  claim  of  the 
sovereign  pontiff  to  infallibility.  Their 
denial  had  induced  the  removal  of  civil 
disabilities  existing  against  them  by  legis- 
lative action  in  various  countries  within 
the  past  hundred  years.  The  efficacy  of 
their  denial  in  removing  such  disabilities 
in  England  is  clearly  pointed  out  by  Mr. 
Gladstone  in  his  tract  hereinbefore 
quoted. 

When  not  so  occupied  in  denying  that 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  laid  claim  to 
infallibility,  the  leading  prelates  were 
debating  in  synod  and  council  whether 
the  infallibility  of  the  church  was  vested 
in  the  pope  or  the  oecumenical  council. 

The  Vatican  Council,  the  largest 
numerically  in  the  history  of  the  church, 
with  764  prelates  in  attendance,  solved 
the  problem  for  all  future  time  by  hand- 
ing down,  on  July  18,  1870,  the  foregoing 
decree  of  Papal  infallibility.  The  tre- 
mendous force  and  boundless  scope  of 
that  decree  are  not  perhaps  readily  appar- 

73 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


ent  to  those  unskilled  in  the  construction 
of  statutory  enactments.  To  such  read- 
ers it  may  appear  to  have  little  or  no 
direct  bearing  on  the  relations  existing 
between  the  Papacy  and  civil  govern- 
ments. But  lawyers  and  statesmen  and 
scholars  were  not  slow  to  grasp  its 
import  and  significance. 


74 


IX 

STILL  CLAIMS  PRE-EMINENT  SOVER- 
EIGNTY (Concluded) 

OOPE  LEO  XIII.  and  other  Roman 
*"  Catholic  authorities  skillfully  en- 
deavor to  divert  attention  from  the  dan- 
gers lurking  in  this  decree  by  declaring 
that  the  state  has  exclusive  jurisdiction 
over  society  in  its  earthly  and  civil 
aspects,  while  the  church  deals  with  man 
exclusively  in  his  spiritual  and  eternal 
interests,  and  that  conflict  of  the  civil 
with  the  ecclesiastical  power  is  therefore 
virtually  impossible.  But  if  such  conflict 
should  incidentally  arise,  these  Papal 
writers  insist,  a  friendly  agreement  or 
concordat,  bilateral  and  beneficent,  will 
readily  define  the  boundary  separating 
the  two  sovereign  jurisdictions  and  pre- 
vent serious  friction. 

In  the  following  remarks,  taken  from 
the   "Encyclical   Letter   Immortale   Dei" 

75 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  November  1,  1885,  Pope  Leo  XIII. 
states  with  characteristic  suavity  the 
theory  which  Roman  Catholics  hold  out 
to  the  world  touching  the  essential  har- 
mony between  church  and  state: 

"The  Almighty,  therefore,  has  ap- 
pointed the  charge  of  the  human  race 
between  two  powers,  the  ecclesiastical 
and  the  civil,  the  one  being  set  over 
divine,  and  the  other  over  human,  things. 
Each  in  its  kind  is  supreme,  each  has 
fixed  limits  within  which  it  is  contained, 
limits  which  are  defined  by  the  nature 
and  special  object  of  the  province  of  each, 
so  that  there  is,  we  may  say,  an  orbit 
traced  out  within  which  the  action  of 
each  is  brought  into  play  by  its  own 
native  right.  But  inasmuch  as  each  of 
these  two  powers  has  authority  over  the 
same  subjects,  and  as  it  might  come  to 
pass  that  one  and  the  same  thing — re- 
lated differently,  but  still  remaining  one 
and  the  same  thing — might  belong  to  the 
jurisdiction  and  determination  of  both, 
therefore  God,  who  foresees  all  things 
and  who  is  the  author  of  these  two 
powers,  has  marked  out  the  course  of 
each  in  right  correlation  to  the  other. 
For  the  powers  that  are,  are  ordained  of 

76 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


God.  Were  this  not  so,  deplorable  con- 
tentions and  conflicts  would  often  arise, 
and  not  infrequently  men,  like  travelers 
at  the  meeting  of  two  roads,  would  hesi- 
tate in  anxiety  and  doubt,  not  knowing 
what  course  to  follow.  Two  powers 
would  be  commanding  contrary  things, 
and  it  would  be  a  dereliction  of  duty  to 
disobey  either  of  the  two. 

"But  it  would  be  most  repugnant  to 
deem  thus  of  the  wisdom  and  goodness 
of  God.  Even  in  physical  things,  albeit 
of  a  lower  order,  the  Almighty  has  so 
combined  the  forces  and  springs  of 
nature  with  tempered  action  and  won- 
drous harmony  that  no  one  of  them 
clashes  with  any  other,  and  all  of  them 
most  fitly  and  aptly  work  together  for 
the  great  purpose  of  the  universe.  There 
must,  accordingly,  exist,  between  these 
two  powers,  a  certain  orderly  connection, 
which  may  be  compared  to  the  union  of 
the  soul  and  body  in  man.  The  nature 
and  scope  of  that  connection  can  be 
determined  only,  as  We  have  laid  down, 
by  having  regard  to  the  nature  of  each 
power,  and  by  taking  account  of  the  rela- 
tive excellence  and  nobleness  of  their 
purpose.  One  of  the  two  has  for  its 
proximate  and  chief  object  the  well-being 

77 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  this  mortal  life;  the  other,  the  ever- 
lasting joys  of  heaven.  Whatever,  there- 
fore, in  things  human,  is  of  a  sacred 
character,  whatever  belongs,  either  of  its 
own  nature  or  by  reason  of  the  end  to 
which  it  is  referred,  to  the  salvation  of 
souls,  or  to  the  worship  of  God,  is  sub- 
ject to  the  power  and  judgment  of  the 
Church.  Whatever  is  to  be  ranged  under 
the  civil  and  political  order  is  rightly 
subject  to  the  civil  authority.  Jesus 
Christ  has  Himself  given  command  that 
what  is  Caesar's  is  to  be  rendered  to 
Caesar,  and  that  what  belongs  to  God  is 
to  be  rendered  to  God. 

"There  are,  nevertheless,  occasions 
when  another  method  of  concord  is  avail- 
able for  the  sake  of  peace  and  liberty: 
We  mean  when  rulers  of  the  State  and 
the  Roman  Pontiff  come  to  an  under- 
standing touching  some  special  matter. 
At  such  times  the  Church  gives  signal 
proof  of  her  motherly  love  by  showing 
the  greatest  possible  kindliness  and  in- 
dulgence."— Great  Encyclical  Letters,  pp. 
114,  115. 

Notwithstanding  the  smooth  urbanity 
of  the  foregoing  statement  from  the  most 
diplomatic  pontiff  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 

78 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


tury,  the  Papacy  has  so  construed  its 
own  prerogatives  under  the  decrees  of 
the  Vatican  Council  as  to  assume  unlim- 
ited power  to  curb  and  restrain  the  rights 
and  jurisdiction  of  the  state.  Leading 
Roman  Catholic  authorities  on  the  canon 
law,  and  the  popes  themselves,  boldly 
declare  and  hold  that,  in  the  relations 
between  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
powers,  the  latter  occupies  exactly  the 
position  of  a  superior  tribunal  with  ample 
right  to  restrain  the  civil  power,  as  an 
inferior,  within  jurisdictional  limits  pre- 
scribed by  the  Pope  alone.  The  restrain- 
ing power  of  the  Pope  is  identical  in  its 
method  and  amplitude  with  the  writ  of 
prohibition  by  which  a  superior  court 
restrains  an  inferior  court  within  the 
bounds  of  its  jurisdiction. 

In  support  of  these  allegations,  a  few 
brief  passages  from  the  encyclical  letters 
of  Leo  XIII.  will  now  be  submitted,  after 
which  one  of  the  ablest  and  most  lumi- 
nous Papal  writers  on  canon  law  will  be 
permitted  to  state  fully  and  in  his  own 
words  the  power  and  method  by  which 

79 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Roman  Catholic  authorities  accord  to  the 
Pope  this  supreme  jurisdiction  to  define 
the  rights  and  restrain  the  authority  of 
every  civil  government  in  the  world.  In 
this  connection  the  following  expressions 
of  Leo  XIII.  are  submitted: 

"But  if  the  laws  of  the  State  are  mani- 
festly at  variance  with  the  divine  law, 
containing  enactments  hurtful  to  the 
Church,  or  conveying  injunctions  adverse 
to  the  duties  imposed  by  religion,  or  if 
they  violate  in  the  person  of  the  Supreme 
Pontiff  the  authority  of  Jesus  Christ, 
then  truly  to  resist  becomes  a  positive 
duty;  to  obey,  a  crime." — Great  Encycli- 
cal Letters,  p.  185. 

"And  just  as  the  end  at  which  the 
Church  aims  is  by  far  the  noblest  of 
ends,  so  is  its  authority  the  most  exalted 
of  all  authority,  nor  can  it  be  looked  upon 
as  inferior  to  the  civil  power,  or  in  any 
manner  dependent  upon  it." — Id,,  pp.  112, 
113. 

These  declarations  of  Leo  XIII.,  in 
his  pastoral  encyclicals  touching  the 
duties  of  Roman  Catholics  as  citizens, 
purport  under  the  Vatican  Decrees  to  be 
infallible  and  irreformable.  Taken  to- 

80 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


gether,  they  clearly  express  the  claim  of 
the  Pope  to  authority  superior  to  that  of 
the  state. 

The  real  teaching  of  the  Roman 
Church,  when  stated  more  fully,  is  that, 
to  prevent  strife  between  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  powers,  the  one  or  the  other 
must  be  clothed  with  the  paramount  right 
to  define  the  jurisdictional  limits  of  both, 
and  to  locate  the  boundary-line  between 
the  two  jurisdictions.  This  paramount 
right  the  Papacy  boldly  claims  and 
asserts.  Appropriating  the  unbounded 
wisdom  and  prerogatives  that  lurk  in  the 
decree  of  infallibility,  it  declares  that  only 
supreme  and  infallible  wisdom  is  capable 
of  denning  the  limits  of  its  own  jurisdic- 
tion or  that  of  its  rival;  and  since  this 
wisdom  is  attributed  by  the  Vatican 
decree  exclusively  to  the  Pope,  he  alone 
is  able  to  define  with  infallible  accuracy 
the  limits  of  his  own  jurisdiction,  from 
which  he  is  by  divine  right  empowered 
to  banish  and  restrain  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  state. 

By  virtue  of  the  foregoing  doctrine, 

6  81 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


the  Papacy  claims  in  the  most  emphatic 
manner  the  exclusive  right  to  define  the 
civil  authority  of  the  state  in  a  way  to 
prevent  the  exercise  of  that  authority 
within  the  circle  which  the  Pope,  by  the 
same  infallible  right,  has  defined  as  be- 
longing solely  to  him.  The  exercise  by 
the  Pope  of  this  unlimited  prerogative 
would  make  an  end  of  all  sovereign 
power  in  the  state  or  in  any  other  func- 
tionary than  the  Pope  himself.  His 
paramount  prerogatives  would  confine 
the  authority  of  the  state  within  juris- 
dictional  limitations  fixed  by  him  exactly 
as  a  superior  court  by  its  writ  of  prohi- 
bition restrains  the  inferior  court  within 
jurisdictional  boundaries  fixed  and  deter- 
mined by  the  superior  court  issuing  the 
x~writ. 

It  may  be  objected  that  the  infalli- 
bility set  forth  by  the  Vatican  Council  is 
confined  to  those  Papal  utterances  which 
relate  to  faith  and  morals;  that  they  do 
not,  therefore,  include  issues  of  discipline 
and  civil  authority.  But  the  Pope  is 
made  the  sole  and  infallible  judge  of 

82 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


what  are  questions  concerning  faith  and 
morals,  and  he  is  clothed  with  power 
without  limit  to  give  any  breadth  and 
latitude  whatever  to  the  range  of  faith 
and  morals.  There  is  no  conceivable  duty 
or  conduct  that  may  not,  in  his  construc- 
tion, be  brought  within  the  bounds  of 
faith  and  morals.  His  prerogatives, 
therefore,  cover  the  whole  field  of  organ- 
ized society  and  human  relationship. 

Dr.   Sebastian  B.   Smith,  an  eminent  -^ 
Roman    Catholic    authority   and   volumi-     \ 
nous  writer  on  canon  law,  in  Section  481 
of  his  work  in  three  volumes  on  eccle- 
siastical law,  beginning  on  page  227  of      / 
Volume  L,  states  the  astounding  claims  S 
of  the  Papacy  over  the  civil  government, 
on  the  basis  of  the  Vatican  decrees  and 
Papal  bulls,  in  the  following  words: 

"In  whatsoever  things,  whether  essen- 
tially or  by  accident,  the  spiritual  end — 
that  is,  the  end  of  the  Church — is  neces- 
sarily involved,  in  those  things,  though 
they  be  temporal,  the  Church  may  by 
right  exert  its  power  and  the  civil 
state  ought  to  yield.  ...  In  this  proposi- 
83 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


tion  is  contained  the  full  explanation  of 
the  indirect  spiritual  power  of  the  Church 
over  the  state.  The  proposition  is  proved : 
I.  From  reason. — Either  the  Church  has 
an  indirect  power  over  the  state,  or  the 
state  has  an  indirect  power  over  the 
Church.  There  is  no  alternative.  For, 
as  experience  teaches,  conflicts  may  arise 
between  Church  and  State.  Now,  in  any 
question  as  to  the  competence  of  the  two 
powers,  either  there  must  be  some  judge 
to  decide  what  does  and  what  does  not 
fall  within  their  respective  spheres,  or 
they  are  delivered  over  to  perpetual  doubt 
and  to  perpetual  conflict.  But  who  can 
define  what  is  or  is  not  within  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Church  in  faith  and  morals, 
except  a  judge  who  knows  what  the 
sphere  of  faith  and  morals  contains  and 
how  far  it  extends?  It  is  clear  that  the 
civil  power  can  not  define  how  far  the 
circumference  of  faith  and  morals  ex- 
tends. To  do  this  it  must  know  the 
whole  deposit  of  explicit  and  implicit 
faith.  Therefore,  the  Church  alone  can 
fix  the  limits  of  its  jurisdiction;  and  if 
the  Church  can  fix  the  limits  of  its  own 
jurisdiction,  it  can  fix  the  limits  of  all 
other  jurisdiction — at  least,  so  as  to  ivarn 
it  off  its  own  domain.  Hence,  the  Church 

84 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


is  supreme  in  matters  of  religion  and 
conscience;  she  knows  the  limits  of  the 
competence  of  the  civil  power.  Again,  if 
it  be  said  that  the  State  is  altogether 
independent  of  the  Church,  it  would 
follow  that  the  State  would  also  be  inde- 
pendent of  the  law  of  God  in  things  tem- 
poral; for  the  divine  law  must  be  pro- 
mulgated by  the  Church.  It  is  unmean- 
ing to  say  that  princes  have  no  superior 
but  the  law  of  God;  for  a  law  is  no 
superior  without  an  authority  to  judge 
and  to  apply  it.  II.  We  next  prove  our 
thesis  from  authority.  We  refer  to  the 
famous  bull  Unam  Sanctam,  issued  by 
Pope  Boniface  VIII.  in  1302.  This  bull 
declares  that  there  is  but  one  true  Church, 
and  therefore  one  head  of  the  Church — 
the  Roman  Pontiff;  that  there  are  two 
swords — i.  e.,  two  powers — the  spiritual 
and  the  temporal;  the  latter  must  be  sub- 
ject to  the  former.  The  bull  finally  winds 
up  with  this  definition:  'And  this  we 
declare,  affirm,  define  (definimus},  and 
pronounce,  that  it  is  necessary  for  the 
salvation  of  every  human  creature  that 
he  should  be  subject  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff.'  This  is  undoubtedly  a  de  fide  | 
definition — i.  e.,  an  utterance  ex  cathedra. 
In  fact,  the  bull,  though  occasioned  by  | 

85 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


and  published  during  the  contest  between 
Boniface  VIII.  and  Philip  the  Fair, 
King  of  France — who  held  that  he  was  in 
no  sense  subject  to  the  Roman  Pontiff — 
had  for  its  object,  as  is  evident  from  its 
whole  tenor  and  wording,  this:  to  define 
dogmatically  the  relation  of  the  Church 
to  the  state  in  general ;  that  is,  universally, 
not  merely  the  relations  between  the 
Church  and  the  particular  state  or  nation 
— France.  Now,  what  is  the  meaning 
of  this  de  fide  definition  ?  There  are  two 
interpretations :  one,  given  by  the  enemies 
of  the  Papacy,  is  that  the  Pope,  in  this 
bull,  claims  not  merely  an  indirect,  but 
a  direct  and  absolute,  power  over  the 
State,  thus  completely  subordinating  it  to 
the  Church;  that  is,  subjecting  it  to  the 
Church,  even  in  purely  temporal  things. 
This  explanation,  given  formerly  by  the 
partisans  of  Philip  the  Fair,  by  the 
Regalists  in  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV., 
and  at  present  by  Janus,  Dr.  Schulte,  the 
Old  Catholics,  and  the  opponents  of  the 
Papal  infallibility  in  general,  is  designed 
to  throw  odium  upon  the  Holy  See  and 
arouse  the  passions  of  men,  especially  of 
governments,  against  the  lawful  author- 
ity of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs.  The  sec- 
ond or  Catholic  interpretation  is  that  the 

86 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Church,  and  therefore  the  Pope,  has  in- 
direct authority  over  the  State;  that 
therefore  the  State  is  subject  to  the 
Church  in  temporal  things,  so  far  as  they 
relate  to  eternal  salvation  or  involve  sin. 
Thus,  the  illustrious  Bishop  Fessler,  Sec- 
retary to  the  Vatican  Council,  says  that 
this  bull  affirms  merely  that  Christian 
rulers  are  subject  to  the  Pope,  as  head 
of  the  Church,  but  not  in  purely  temporal 
things;  'still  less,'  continues  Fessler, 
'does  it  [the  bull]  say  (as  Dr.  Schulte 
formulates  his  second  proposition)  that 
the  temporal  power  must  act  uncondition- 
ally in  subordination  to  the  spiritual/ 
That  this  is  the  correct  interpretation 
appears,  I.,  from  the  whole  tenor  of  the 
bull  itself;  for  it  expressly  declares  that 
the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers  are 
distinct  one  from  the  other;  that  the 
former  is  to  be  used  by  the  latter  for 
the  Church.  Again  it  says :  The  spiritual 
power  (i.  e.,  the  Church)  has  to  instruct 
and  judge  the  earthly  power,  if  it  be  not 
good.  If,  therefore,  the  earthly  power 
deviates  (from  its  end),  it  will  be  judged 
by  the  spiritual.'  Again,  before  issuing 
the  bull  Unam  Sanctam,  Pope  Boniface 
VIII.  had  already  declared,  in  a  consis- 
tory held  in  1302,  that  he  had  never 

87 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


dreamt  of  usurping  upon  the  authority 
of  the  King  (of  France) — i.  e.,  of  assum- 
ing any  power  over  the  state  in  purely 
temporal  matters;  but  that  he  had  de- 
clared, in  the  bull  Ausculta  Fill  (A.  D. 
1301),  the  King  (of  France)  to  be  like 
any  other  Christian,  subject  to  him  only 
in  regard  to  sin.  It  is  therefore  de  fide 
that  the  Church,  and  therefore  the  Pope, 
has  indirect  power  over  the  State;  and 
that,  consequently,  THE  STATE,  IN  TEM- 
PORAL THINGS  THAT  INVOLVE  SIN,  IS 
SUBJECT  TO  THE  CHURCH^ 

"482.  From  what  has  been  said  we 
infer:  1.  The  authority  of  princes  and 
the  allegiance  of  subjects  in  the  civil  state 
of  nature  are  of  divine  ordinance;  and, 
therefore,  so  long  as  princes  and  their 
laws  are  in  conformity  to  the  law  of  God, 
the  Church  has  no  jurisdiction  against 
them  nor  over  them.  2.  If  princes  and 
their  laws  deviate  from  the  law  of  God, 
the  Church  has  authority  from  God  to 
judge  of  that  deviation,  and  to  oblige  its 
correction.  3.  This  authority  of  the 
Church  is  not  direct  in  its  incidence  on 
temporal  things,  but  only  indirect.  4. 

THIS    INDIRECT    POWER    OF    THE    CHURCH 

OVER  THE  STATE  is  INHERENT  IN  THE 

DIVINE    CONSTITUTION    AND     COMMISSION 
88 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


OF  THE  CHURCH  ;  but  its  exercise  in  the 
world  depends  on  certain  moral  and  mate- 
rial conditions  by  which  alone  its  exercise 
is  rendered  either  possible  or  just.  This 
last  conclusion  is  carefully  to  be  borne  in 
mind;  it  shows  that,  until  a  Christian 
world  and  Christian  rulers  existed,  there 
was  no  subject  or  materia  apt  a  for  the 
exercise  of  the  supreme  judicial  authority 
of  the  Church  in  temporal  things.  So 
much  for  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the 
infidel  state.  When  a  Christian  world 
came  into  existence,  the  civil  society  of 
man  became  subject  to  the  spiritual  direc- 
tion of  the  Church.  So  long,  however,  as 
individuals  only  subjected  themselves,  one 
by  one,  to  its  authority,  the  conditions  nec- 
essary for  the  exercise  of  its  ofHce  were 
not  fully  present.  The  Church  guided 
men,  one  by  one,  to  their  end;  but  as  yet 
the  collective  society  of  nations  was  not 
subject  to  its  guidance.  It  is  only  when 
nations  and  kingdoms  become  socially  sub- 
ject to  the  supreme  doctrinal  and  judicial 
authority  of  the  Church  that  the  condi- 
tions of  its  exercise  are  verified.  So 
much  for  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  Catholic  state.  At  present  the  world 
or  civil  society,  with  scarcely  a  single 
exception,  has  ceased  to  be  Catholic,  or 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


even  Christian.  It  has  withdrawn  itself 
socially  as  a  whole,  and,  in  the  public  life 
of  nations,  from  the  unity  and  the  juris- 
diction of  the  Christian  Church.  Now, 
the  Church,  it  is  true,  never  loses  its 
jurisdiction  in  radice  over  the  baptized; 
but  it  never  puts  it  forth  in  regard  to 
heretics  or  the  heretical  state.  So  much 
for  the  relation  of  the  Church  to  the 
heretical  state.  In  this  entire  question, 
therefore,  the  authority  itself  of  the 
Church  must  be  distinguished  from  its 
exercise." 


90 


SENDS  AND  RECEIVES  AMBASSADORS 

(5)  Nearly  all  nations  maintain  diplo- 
matic envoys  at  the  Vatican,  and  the 
Pope  sends  ambassadors  known  as  nun- 
cios to  many  of  the  nations. 

The  sending  of  envoys  to  represent 
the  Pope  in  matters  ecclesiastical  began 
early  in  the  Middle  Ages.  These  early 
representatives  bore  various  titles  intend- 
ed to  express  the  peculiar  functions 
which  they  were  respectively  authorized 
to  discharge.  But  the  custom  of  sending 
to  the  secular  courts  Papal  envoys  clothed 
with  diplomatic  powers  belongs  to  the 
later  centuries.  Mgr.  Johann  P.  Kirsch, 
S.T.D.,  professor  of  pathology  and  Chris- 
tian archeology  in  the  University  of 
Fribourg,  in  Volume  XL  of  the  Catholic 
Encyclopedia,  at  pages  160-162,  makes 
the  following  statement: 

91 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"NuNCio. — An  ordinary  and  perma- 
nent representative  of  the  pope,  vested 
with  both  political  and  ecclesiastical 
powers,  accredited  to  the  court  of  a 
sovereign  or  assigned  to  a  definite  terri- 
tory with  the  duty  of  safeguarding  the 
interests  of  the  Holy  See.  The  special 
character  of  a  nuncio,  as  distinguished 
from  other  Papal  envoys  (such  as  legates, 
collectors),  consists  in  this:  that  his  office 
is  specially  defined  and  limited  to  a  defi- 
nite district  (his  nunciature),  wherein  he 
must  reside;  his  mission  is  general,  em- 
bracing all  the  interests  of  the  Holy  See; 
his  office  is  permanent,  requiring  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  successor  when  one 
incumbent  is  recalled;  and  his  mission 
includes  both  diplomatic  and  ecclesiasti- 
cal power.  Nuncios,  in  the  strict  sense 
of  the  word,  first  appear  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  first  permanent  representa- 
tives of  the  Holy  See  at  secular  courts 
were  the  apocrisarii  at  the  Byzantine 
Court.  In  the  Middle  Ages  the  popes 
sent,  for  the  settlement  of  important 
ecclesiastical  or  political  matters,  legates 
(legati  a  latere)  with  definite  instruc- 
tions, and  at  times  with  ordinary  juris- 
diction. The  officials,  sent  from  the  thir- 
teenth century  for  the  purpose  of  collect- 

92 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


ing  taxes  either  for  the  Roman  Court  or 
for  the  Crusades,  were  called  nuntii, 
nuntii  apostolici.  During  the  fourteenth 
and  fifteenth  centuries  this  title  was  given 
also  to  Papal  envoys  entrusted  with  cer- 
tain other  affairs  of  an  ecclesiastical  or 
diplomatic  nature.  Frequently  they  were 
given  the  right  of  granting  certain  privi- 
leges, favors  and  benefices.  During  the 
Great  Western  Schism  and  the  period  of 
the  reform  councils  (fifteenth  century), 
such  embassies  were  more  frequently 
resorted  to  by  the  Holy  See.  Then  were 
also  gradually  established  permanent  dip- 
lomatic representation  at  the  various 
courts.  With  previous  forms  of  Papal 
representation  as  a  precedent,  and  mod- 
eled upon  the  permanent  diplomatic  lega- 
tions of  temporal  sovereigns,  there  finally 
arose  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  present 
nunciatures  of  the  Holy  See.  .  .  . 

"The  powers  of  Papal  nuncios  corre- 
spond to  the  twofold  character  of  their 
mission.  As  the  diplomatic  representa- 
tives of  the  popes,  they  treat  with  the 
sovereigns  or  heads  of  republics  to  whom 
they  are  accredited.  With  their  mission 
they  are  given  special  credentials  as  well 
as  special  instructions,  whether  of  a  pub- 
lic or  private  nature.  They  also  receive 

03 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


i  a  secret  code  and  enjoy  the  same  privi- 
leges as  ambassadors.  Their  appearances 
in  public  are  regulated  in  conformity  with 
general  diplomatic  customs.  They  also 
have  certain  distinctions,  especially  that 
of  being  ex-officio  dean  of  the  entire  dip- 
lomatic body  within  their  nunciature,  and 
therefore  on  public  occasions  take  prece- 
dence of  all  diplomatic  representatives. 
Internuncios  and  delegates  enjoy  a  simi- 
lar right  of  precedence  over  all  other 
diplomatic  representatives  of  equal  rank. 
This  privilege  of  Papal  envoys  was 
expressly  recognized  by  the  Congress  of 
Vienna  in  1815  and  is  universally  ob- 
served. Nuncios  enjoy  the  title  of 
'Excellency'  and  the  same  special  honors 
as  ambassadors." 

Volume  IX.  of  the  Catholic  Encyclo- 
pedia contains  the  following  luminous 
statement,  beginning  on  page  119: 

"NUNCIOS. — In  the  thirteenth  century 
legati  missi  came  to  be  known  as  nuncios, 
by  which  name  they  are  yet  called.  After 
the  Council  of  Trent  nuncios  were  estab- 
lished permanently  in  various  countries. 
Besides  an  ecclesiastical  mission,  they 
have  also  a  diplomatic  character,  having 

94 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


been  from  their  origin  accredited  to 
courts  or  governments.  Their  jurisdic- 
tion is  ordinary,  but  it  is  customary  at 
present  to  grant  them  special  faculties, 
according  to  the  needs  of  the  country  to 
which  they  are  sent;  such  faculties  are 
conveyed  in  a  special  Brief.  They  are 
also  given  credential  letters  to  be  pre- 
sented to  the  ruler  of  the  country,  and 
particular  instructions  in  writing.  The 
nuncios  are  usually  titular  archbishops: 
occasionally,  however,  bishops  or  arch- 
bishops of  residential  sees  are  appointed 
to  the  office.  Some  nuncios  are  of  the 
first  and  some  of  the  second  class,  the  only 
difference  between  them  being  that,  at 
the  end  of  their  mission,  those  of  the 
first  class  are  usually  promoted  to  the 
cardinalate.  .  .  . 

"The  Apostolic  delegation  to  the 
United  States  deserves  special  mention. 
First,  on  account  of  its  importance  it  is 
practically  equivalent  to  a  nunciature  of 
the  first  class,  as  may  be  inferred  from 
the  Encyclical  of  6  January,  1895,  ad- 
dressed by  Leo  XIII.  to  the  archbishops 
and  bishops  of  the  United  States,  which 
declared:  'When  the  Council  of  Balti- 
more had  concluded  its  labors,  the  duty 
still  remained  of  putting,  so  to  speak,  a 

95 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


proper  and  becoming  crown  upon  the 
work.  This  we  perceived  could  scarcely 
be  done  in  a  more  fitting  manner  than 
through  the  due  establishment  by  the 
Apostolic  See  of  an  American  legation. 
Accordingly,  as  you  are  well  aware,  we 
have  done  this.  By  this  action,  as  we 
have  elsewhere  intimated,  we  wished, 
first  of  all,  to  certify  that  in  our  judg- 
ment and  affection  America  occupied  the 
same  place  and  rights  as  other  states,  how- 
ever powerful  and  imperial.' '  (Long- 
inque  Oceani,  January  6,  1895,  ''Great 
Encyclical  Letters,"  p.  327.)  "Moreover, 
from  the  beginning  all  the  incumbents  of 
this  office  have  been  elevated  to  the  car- 
dinalate.  .  .  . 

"The  delegation  to  the  United  States 
was  established  by  Leo  XIII.,  24  Jan- 
uary, 1893." 

Papal  nuncios  are  accredited  to  those 
nations  only  which  maintain  diplomatic 
envoys  at  the  Vatican.  But  the  Pope 
sends  envoys  of  a  lower  rank,  known  as 
internuncios,  to  countries  not  represented 
by  a  diplomatic  agent  at  the  Papal  court. 

Only  sovereign  powers  have  a  right 

under   the  law   of   nations   to   send   and 
96 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


receive  ambassadors.  This  truth  is  so 
elementary  that  it  seems  superfluous  to 
produce  authorities  in  its  support.  Hal- 
leek,  in  his  text-book  on  international 
law,  published  in  London  in  1878,  gives 
on  page  272  the  following  succinct  decla- 
ration of  the  law: 

"In  Europe,  the  right  of  sending 
ambassadors  is  considered  as  exclusively 
confined  to  crowned  heads,  to  the  great 
republics,  and  other  States  entitled  to 
royal  honors.  Papal  legates,  or  nuncios, 
at  Catholic  courts  are  usually  ranked  as 
ambassadors." 

Pope  Leo  XIII.,  in  his  "Encyclical 
Letter  Immortale  Dei,"  in  stating  the 
attitude  of  (the  nations  of  the  earth 
towards  the  Papal  claim  to  sovereign 
rights,  uses  the  following  words : 

"It  can  not  be  called  in  question  that 
in  the  making  of  treaties,  in  the  trans- 
action of  business  matters,  in  the  sending 
and  receiving  ambassadors,  and  in  the 
interchange  of  other  kinds  of  official 
dealings,  the^have  been  wont  to  treat 
with  the  Church  as  with  a  supreme  and 

itimate    power.  ^    And    assuredly    all 


PAPAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


ought  to  hold  that  it  was  not  without  a 
singular  disposition  of  God's  providence 
that  this  power  of  the  Church  was  pro- 
vided with  a  civil  sovereignty  as  the 
surest  safeguard  of  her  independence." — 
Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope  Leo 
XIII. ,  p.  114. 

The  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  Volume 
XL,  at  page  161,  gives  the  following  list 
of  states  to  which  Papal  nuncios  are 
accredited : 

First  Class:  1.  Austria  Hungary;  2. 
France  (no  incumbent  since  1904) ;  3. 
Spain;  4.  Portugal. 

Second  Class:  1.  Swiss  nunciature 
(no  incumbent  since  1873);  2.  Munich; 
3.  Brussels;  4.  Brazil. 

Internuncios :  1.  Holland  and  Luxem- 
burg; 2.  Argentina,  Uruguay  and  Para- 
guay; 3.  Costa  Rica  (vacant);  4.  Ecua- 
dor, Bolivia  and  Peru;  5.  San  Domingo, 
Haiti  and  Venezuela. 

Baker's  "First  Steps  in  International 
Law,"  at  page  119,  gives  the  following 
list  of  countries  having  diplomatic  agents 
at  the  Vatican : 

98 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"The  States  still  actually  represented 
at  the  Vatican  are:  Austria  and  Hun- 
gary, Spain,  France  and  Portugal,  who 
have  each  an  ambassador  at  Rome; 
Bavaria,  Belgium,  Bolivia,  Ecuador, 
Chili,  Guatemala,  Monaco,  the  Republic 
of  Nicaragua,  Peru,  who  maintain  a 
minister  plenipotentiary.  Germany  has 
retained  a  chancellor.  Holland  has  no 
minister  accredited  to  the  Holy  See,  but 
an  internuncio  continues  to  reside  at  The 
Hague." 

In  1904  the  French  embassy  at  the 
Vatican  was  discontinued,  and  that  re- 
public has  not  renewed  diplomatic  rela- 
tions with  the  Holy  See.  To  the  fore- 
going there  should  be  added  Russia, 
Great  Britain  and  Japan,  which  have 
recently  sent  ambassadors  to  the  Vatican. 


XI 

MAKES  TREATIES 

(6)  The  Pope  makes  treaties,  known 
as  concordats,  with  the  other  sovereign 
powers. 

Nearly  all  nations  have  entered  into 
treaty  relations  with  the  Pope.  These 
conventions  are  not  usually  called  trea- 
ties, however,  but  are  known  by  the 
Latin  name  of  concordats.  But  they  are 
executed  with  solemn  formalities  identi- 
cal with  those  which  characterize  all 
international  treaties. 

The  fact  is  significant,  also,  that  con- 
cordats entered  into  since  the  overthrow 
of  the  Papal  State  are  in  precisely  the 
same  form  as  those  executed  before  that 
event.  It  thus  appears  conclusively  that 
the  sovereign  right  of  the  Pope  to  nego- 
tiate such  treaties  was  not  a  particle 
affected  by  the  loss  of  his  territorial 
domain. 

100 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Equally  before  and  since  he  was 
divested  of  the  crown  of  the  Papal  State, 
the  Pope  has  executed  concordats,  as  he 
has  received  and  accredited  envoys,  in 
his  capacity  as  sovereign  pontiff  and  not 
as  monarch  of  the  pontifical  state.  This 
will  readily  appear  by  producing  here 
the  formal  parts  of  a  concordat  executed 
before  the  loss  of  his  territorial  dominion 
and  one  executed  after  that  event. 

In  1843,  twenty-seven  years  before 
the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  State,  the 
Pope  entered  into  a  solemn  convention 
with  the  King  of  Sardinia.  The  formal 
parts  of  that  convention,  which  appear 
in  the  opening  and  concluding  clauses 
and  the  signature  of  the  plenipotentiaries, 
are  as  follows: 

"!N  THE  NAME  OF  THE  MOST  HOLY 
TRINITY. 

"His  Holiness  the  Reigning  High 
Pontiff  and  His  Majesty  the  King  of 
Sardinia,  moved  by  an  equal  desire  of 
encouraging,  and  of  further  increasing 
the  commercial  relations  between  their 
respective  states,  and  persuaded  that 
101 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


nothing  can  tend  more  to  this  end  than 
the  causing  reciprocally  to  disappear  in 
the  application  of  the  maritime  regula- 
tions every  difference  of  treatment  be- 
tween the  subjects  of  the  one  and  of  the 
other  dominion,  have  on  this  account 
unanimously  determined  to  conclude  a 
Convention,  and  have  named  for  that 
purpose  for  their  Plenipotentiaries,  viz.: 
"His  Holiness  the  Reigning  High 
Pontiff  has  named  his  Most  Reverend 
Eminence  the  Cardinal  Luigi  Lambrus- 
chini,  Bishop  of  Sabina,  his  Secretary  of 
State  and  the  Briefs,  Librarian  of  the 
Holy  Church,  Grand  Prior  at  Rome  of 
the  Order  of  Jerusalem,  Grand  Cross 
decorated  with  the  Broad  Riband  of  the 
Holy  Military  Order  of  St.  Maurice  and 
St.  Lazarus,  &c.  And  His  Majesty  the 
King  of  Sardinia  has  named  his  Excel- 
lency the  Count  Frederic  Broglia  of 
Mombello,  His  Majesty's  Envoy  Ex- 
traordinary and  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary at  the  Holy  See,  Commander  of  the 
Holy  Military  Order  of  St.  Maurice  and 
St.  Lazarus,  Knight  of  the  Pontifical 
Order  of  Christ,  Grand  Cross  of  the 
Orders  of  St.  Joseph  of  Tuscany  and  of 
St.  Ludovic  of  Lucca,  £c. ;  who,  after 
having  exchanged  their  respective  Full 
102 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Powers  and  found  them  to  be  in  good 
and  due  form,  have  agreed  upon  the 
following  Articles. 

".  .  .  The  present  Convention  shall  be 
approved  and  ratified  by  His  Holiness 
the  reigning  High  Pontiff  and  by  His 
Majesty  the  King  of  Sardinia;  and  the 
Ratifications  shall  be  exchanged  at  Rome 
within  five  weeks  from  the  date  of  signa- 
ture, and  sooner  if  possible. 

"In  faith  of  which  the  above-men- 
tioned Plenipotentiaries  have  signed  it, 
and  affixed  thereto  the  seal  of  their  arms. 

"ROME,  March  15,  1843. 

"(L.  S.)  CARD.  LAMBRUSCHINI. 
"(L.   S.)    COUNT  FREDERIC   BROGLIA  OF 

MOMBELLO. 

— State  Papers  Published  by  the  British 
Government,  Vol.  XXX1L,  pp.  1274-76. 

On  June  23,  1886,  sixteen  years  after 
the  loss  to  the  Papacy  of  the  pontifical 
state,  Pope  Leo  XIII.  entered  into  a  con- 
vention with  the  King  of  Portugal,  of 
which  the  formal  parts  are  substantially 
identical  with  those  of  all  previous  con- 
cordats, as  will  fully  appear  from  the 
following  introductory  and  concluding 
excerpts : 

103 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"!N  THE  NAME  OF  THE  MOST  HOLY 
TRINITY. 

"His  Holiness  the  Supreme  Pontiff 
Leo  XIII.,  and  His  Most  Faithful  Majes- 
ty the  King  Don  Lewis  I.,  being  animated 
with  the  wish  to  favour  and  further  the 
development  of  the  Christian  communi- 
ties in  the  East  Indies  and  to  settle  in  a 
stable  and  definite  manner  the  patronage 
therein  of  the  Portuguese  Crown,  have 
determined  to  make  a  concordat,  and  for 
this  purpose  they  have  appointed  their 
Plenipotentiaries,  as  follows: 

"On  the  part  of  His  Holiness,  the 
Most  Eminent  and  Reverend  Cardinal  L. 
Jacobini,  his  Secretary  of  State; 

"And  on  the  part  of  His  Most  Faith- 
ful Majesty,  his  Excellency  the  Coun- 
cillor of  State,  Joas  B.  da  S.  Ferras  de 
Carvalho  Martens,  Ambassador  Ex- 
traordinary, a  Peer  of  the  Realm  and 
Honorary  Minister  of  State;  who,  after 
exchanging  their  respective  full  powers, 
which  were  found  in  due  and  proper 
form,  have  agreed  upon  the  following 
articles : 

"The  present  Treaty,  together  with  its 
annex  which  is  an  integral  part  thereof, 

104 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


shall  be  ratified  by  the  High  Contracting 
Parties,  and  the  ratifications  shall  be 
exchanged  at  Rome  within  three  months 
from  the  date  of  the  signature  of  the 
same,  or  sooner  if  possible. 

"ROME,  June  23,  1886. 

"(L.  S.)  L.  CARDINAL  JACOBINI. 
"(L.  S.)  Jo  AS  B.  DA  S.  FERRAS  DE  CAR- 

VALHO  MARTENS." 
—State  Papers,  Vol.  LXXVIL,  p.  1143. 

In  order  to  show  the  substantial  iden- 
tity in  form  of  the  foregoing  and  all  con- 
cordats with  the  treaties  which  nations 
are  accustomed  to  make  one  with  another, 
the  formal  parts  of  a  treaty  recently  con- 
cluded between  Great  Britain  and  Ger- 
many in  the  usual  way  are  here  given 
as  follows: 

"His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
and  of  the  British  Dominions  beyond  the 
Seas,  Emperor  of  India,  and  His  Majesty 
the  German  Emperor,  King  of  Prussia, 
in  the  name  of  the  German  Empire,  con- 
sidering it  advisable  to  regulate  by  a 
Treaty  the  extradition  of  fugitive  crimi- 
nals between  certain  British  Protector- 
ates and  Germany,  have  appointed  as 

105 


PAPAL  SOVEREIGNTY 

"" 

their  Plenipotentiaries  for  this  purpose: 

"His  Majesty  the  King  of  the  United 
Kingdom  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
and  of  the  British  Dominions  beyond  the 
Seas,  Emperor  of  India,  his  Ambassador 
Extraordinary  and  Plenipotentiary,  Mem- 
ber of  his  Privy  Council,  the  Right 
Honourable  Sir  William  Edward  Gros- 
chen; 

"His  Majesty  the  German  Emperor, 
King  of  Prussia,  his  Secretary  of  State 
of  the  Foreign  Office,  Actual  Privy  Coun- 
cillor, Herr  von  Kiderlen-Waechter. 

"The  Plenipotentiaries,  after  having 
communicated  to  each  other  their  respec- 
tive full  powers,  which  were  found  to  be 
in  good  and  due  form,  have  agreed  to 
and  concluded  the  following  Articles: 

"IV.  The  present  Treaty  shall  be  rati- 
fied and  the  ratifications  shall  be  ex- 
changed as  soon  as  possible. 

"The  Treaty  shall  come  into  operation 
two  months  after  the  exchange  of  ratifi- 
cations, and  shall  remain  in  force  as  long 
as  the  Extradition  Treaty  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  German  Empire  of  the 
14th  May,  1872,  remains  in  force,  and 
shall  lapse  with  the  termination  of  that 
Treaty. 

106 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"In  witness  whereof  the  respective 
Plenipotentiaries  have  signed  this  Treaty 
and  have  affixed  thereto  the  seal  of  their 
arms. 

"Done  in  duplicate  at  Berlin  the  17th 
August,  1911. 

"(L.  S.)  W.  E.  GROSCHEN. 
"(L.  S.)  KIDERLEN." 
— British  State  and  Foreign  Papers,  Vol. 

CIV.,  pp.  153-4,  A.  D.  1911. 

The  power  to  make  treaties  is  an 
attribute  of  sovereignty.  Only  those  who 
are  clothed  with  sovereign  power  can 
become  parties  to  these  solemn  inter- 
national conventions.  In  view  of  this 
fact,  Section  10  of  Article  I.  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  prohibits 
the  making  of  treaties  between  the  sev- 
eral States  of  the  Union  or  between  any 
State  and  foreign  nations. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  has  recently  approved  the  follow- 
ing definition: 

"Treaties  are  contracts  between  NA- 
TIONS."—Rainey  vs.  U.  S.,  232  U.  S. 
310. 

107 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


The  American  and  English  Encyclo- 
paedia of  Law,  Volume  XXVIII.,  at  page 
476,  says: 

"A  treaty  is  a  contract  between  two  or 
more  SOVEREIGNS. 

".  .  .  As  a  general  rule,  every  sover- 
eign state  whose  powers  have  not  been 
limited  or  modified  by  compacts  with 
other  states  has  the  power  to  make 
treaties." 


108 


XII 

TEXT-BOOKS  ON  INTERNATIONAL  LAW 
DECLARE  HIM  SOVEREIGN 

(7)  Writers  on  international  law  are 
virtually  unanimous  in  declaring  that  the 
Pope  is  now  a  sovereign  potentate. 

A  number  of  texts  on  the  law  of 
nations  have  been  quoted  in  a  previous 
chapter  to  show  the  tremendous  sover- 
eign power  and  prerogatives  accorded  to 
the  Pope  prior  to  the  loss  of  his  terri- 
torial domain.  It  now  remains  to  be 
shown  that  the  overwhelming  preponder- 
ance of  opinion  as  expressed  in  such 
texts  is  that  the  Pope  is  still  a  sovereign 
potentate  and  member  of  the  family  of 
nations.  Under  a  special  act  of  Con- 
gress, John  Bassett  Moore,  professor  of 
international  law  in  Columbia  Univer- 
sity and  for  many  years  Assistant  Sec- 
retary of  State  of  the  United  States, 
wrote  an  international  law  digest  which 

109 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


was  published  in  eight  large  volumes  in 
1906  by  the  Government.  As  a  store- 
house of  learning  and  research,  this  great 
work  is  unrivaled  in  the  literature  of  the 
public  law  of  nations.  In  Volume  L,  on 
page  16,  this  work  gives  the  following 
statement  of  the  law: 

"The  Holy  See  occupies  a  position 
analogous  to  that  of  states,  and  the  Pope 
is  treated  as  a  sovereign,  and  even  as  a 
privileged  sovereign" 

Frantz  Despagnet  published  in  Paris, 
in  1910,  an  admirable  work  in  French 
known  as  "Droit  International  Public." 
The  following  statement  is  translated 
from  Section  154  of  that  work: 

"The  Pope  is  considered  as  a  sover- 

/    eign.     In   their   relations   with   him,   the 

/      principal  Catholic  states  accord  to  him  a 

right  to  the  pre-eminence  which  manifests 

I      itself   in    special   honors.      Non-Catholic 

V     states  generally  treat  him  with  deference." 

Rev.  Sabastian  B.  Smith,  D.D.,  in  his 

/    work    on    ecclesiastical    law    heretofore 

quoted,  in  Sections  201-3,  uses  the  follow- 

V    ing  language : 

no 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


"201.  Is  the  Church  possessed  of 
jurisdiction  in  the  proper  sense  of  the 
term? 

"A.  Protestants  contend  that  the  en- 
tire power  of  the  Church  consists  in  the 
right  to  teach  and  exhort,  but  not  in  the 
right  to  command,  rule  or  govern ;  whence 
they  infer  that  she  is  not  a  perfect  society 
or  sovereign  state.  This  theory  is  false; 
for  the  Church,  as  was  seen,  is  vested 
jure  divino  with  power  (1)  to  make 
laws;  (2)  to  define  and  apply  them 
(potestas  judicialis)  ;  (3)  to  punish  those 
who  violate  her  laws  (potestas  coerci- 
tiva). 

"202.  The  punishments  inflicted  by  the 
Church,  in  the  exercise  of  her  coercive 
authority,  are  chiefly  spiritual  (poence 
spiritnales}  ;  e.  g.,  excommunication,  sus- 
pension and  interdict.  We  say  chiefly; 
for  the  Church  can  inflict  temporal  and 
even  corporal  punishments. 

"203.  Has  the  Church  power  to  inflict 
the  penalty  of  death?  Card.  Tarquini 
thus  answers:  1.  Inferior  ecclesiastics  are 
forbidden,  though  only  by  ecclesiastical 
law,  to  exercise  this  power  directly.  2. 
It  is  certain  that  the  Pope  and  (Ecumeni- 
cal Councils  have  this  power,  at  least 
mediately;  that  is,  they  can,  if  the  neces- 
111" 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


sity  of  the  Church  demands,  require  a 
Catholic  ruler  to  impose  this  penalty. 
That  they  can  not  directly  exercise  this 
power  can  not  be  proved." 

For  more  than  a  hundred  years  the 
great  work  on  "The  Law  of  Nations,"  in 
French,  by  Edmund  De  Vattel,  has  been 
recognized  as  standard  authority  of  very 
high  rank.  The  following  statement 
translated  into  English  is  found  on  page 
61  of  Volume  III.  of  that  work  as  repub- 
lished  in  1916  by  the  Carnegie  Institution 
at  Washington,  D.  C : 

"All  that  we  have  set  forth  above  is 
derived  so  clearly  from  the  ideas  of  in- 
dependence and  sovereignty  that  it  will 
never  be  questioned  by  any  one  in  good 
faith  or  who  is  willing  to  draw  logical 
inferences.  If  all  the  affairs  of  religion 
can  not  be  finally  regulated  by  the  state, 
it  is  not  free  and  its  prince  is  only  half 
sovereign.  There  is  no  middle  course. 
Either  each  state  must  be  master  in  its 
own  territory  on  the  subject  of  religion 
as  on  every  other,  or  the  system  of  Boni- 
face VIII.  must  be  accepted  and  all 
Roman  Catholic  Christendom  be  looked 

upon  as  a  single  state,  zvith  the  Pope  as 
112 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


supreme  head,  and  kings  as  subordinate 
administrators  of  temporal  affairs,  each     \ 
in  his  own  province,  much  as  the  Sultans 
were  formerly  under  the  sovereignty  of 
the  Caliphs."* 

Bonfils  makes  the   following  remark     ^\ 
touching  the  effect  on  the  Papal  authority^.    ) 
of  the  incorporation  of  the  pontifical  state 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Italy: 

[Translation  from  the  French.] 

"The  Pope/lost  nothing  of  his  eccle-  \ 
siastical  authority.  Not  only  is  it  con- 
served intact,  but  it  has  increased  as  the 
Catholic  Church  has  grown  into  an  abso- 
lute and  irresponsible  sovereignty." — 
Droit  International  Public,  by  Bonfils, 
Sec.  374. 

The  work  on  international  law  by 
Halleck,  published  in  London  in  1878,  in 
Volume  I.,  page  102,  makes  the  following 
statement : 

"Thus  the  Catholic  Powers  concede 
the  precedency  to  the  Pope,  as  the  visible 
head  of  the  Church;  but  Russia,  and  the 
Protestant  states  of  Europe,  consider 
him  only  as  a  sovereign  prince  in  Italy, 
and,  as  such,  entitled  to  royal  honors,  but 

8  113 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


not  to  any  precedency  from  his  rank  as 
sovereign  pontiff." 

Dr.  Franz  von  Liszt,  professor  of  law 
in  the  University  of  Berlin,  makes  the 
following  statement  touching  the  present 
sovereign  status  of  the  Pope: 

[Translation  from  the  German.] 

"The  Pope:  He  is  indeed  under  the 
Italian  guarantee  law  of  the  13th  of  May, 
1871 — Fleischmann  107 — as  well  as  also 
in  consequence  of  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  laws  by  the  other  powers,  no  subject 
of  Italy  or  any  other  state;  consequently 
extraterritorial  or  extranational.  He  also 
has  the  benefit  of  a  series  of  other  privi- 
leges, such  as  the  rights  of  active  and 
passive  embassies,  which  also  only  belong 
to  the  sovereign  states;  and  he  makes 
constant  use  of  these  privileges,  with  the 
consent  of  the  powers." — Das  Volkerrecht 
(Berlin,  1913),  p.  49. 


114 


XIII 

EVERY  ROMAN  CATHOLIC  A  PAPAL 
SUBJECT 

II.  Every  Prelate,  Priest  and  Member 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  a  Sub- 
ject of  the  Pope,  and  Bound  to  Him  by 
Civil  and  Ecclesiastical  Bonds  of  Fealty 
and  Obedience. 

The  Papal  system  is  essentially  im- 
perium  in  imperio.  It  is  a  mighty  eccle- 
siastical empire  deeply  rooted  in  the 
domestic  and  international  politics  of  the 
world.  The  Pope  reigns  over  this  empire 
as  supreme  and  absolute  monarch. 
Claiming  to  derive  his  sovereign  power 
directly  from  God  alone,  he  exercises  the 
most  arbitrary  and  despotic  authority 
ever  wielded  by  human  hands. 

The  ramifications  of  the  vast  Roman 
Catholic  fabric,  like  the  roots  of  a  great 
cancer,  have  penetrated  every  tissue  of 

115 


PAPAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


human  society  and  for  centuries  have 
sapped  the  vitality  of  mankind.  Each 
individual  member  of  this  unique  organ- 
ism is  held  under  the  supreme  duty  of 
promoting  the  prosperity  and  sway  of  the 
whole  and  particularly  of  its  sovereign 
head. 

In  every  land  dominated  by  the  Pa- 
pacy the  percentage  of  illiteracy  among 
the  people  is  appalling,  the  major  portion 
of  material  wealth  is  monopolized  by  the 
hierarchy  and  its  political  and  financial 
paramours,  and  civil  and  religious  liberty 
is  totally  unknown.  The  political  strug- 
gles and  aspirations  of  the  human  race 
during  the  past  four  hundred  years  have 
been  one  common  story — the  story  of 
humanity  fleeing  from  Papal  and  imperial 
despotism. 

An  eminent  Roman  Catholic  author- 
ity, after  stating  in  his  standard  text  on 
canon  law  two  somewhat  divergent 
theories  concerning  the  Papal  form  of 
government,  concludes  his  statement  in 
these  words,  wherein  he  expressly  de- 
clares that  Church  a  monarchy: 

116 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"The  difference  between  these  two 
opinions-seems  to  be  verbal  rather  than 
real.  Both  admit  that  the  supreme 
power  in  the  Church  is  vested  in  a  single 
ruler — the  Roman  Pontiff — and  that 
therefore  the  Church  is  a  monarchy  as~ttr^ 
the  form  of  government;  according  to 
Craisson,  this  is  de  fide" — Elements  of 
Ecclesiastical  Law,  S.  B.  Smith,  Sec.  463. 

John  B.  Sagmuller,  professor  of  the- 
ology in  the  University  of  Tubingen, 
Wurtemberg,  Germany,  in  his  article  on 
cardinals,  in  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia, 
designates  the  Papal  government  as 
monarchial  in  the  following  language: 

"RELATIONS  OF  THE  CARDINALS  TO 
THE  POPE. — In  the  Middle  Ages  the  car- 
dinals attempted  more  than  once  to 
secure  over  the  Pope  the  same  pre-emi- 
nence which  they  had  secured  in  a  perma- 
nent way  over  the  episcopate;  i.  e.,  they 
sought  to  change  the  monarchial~form  of 
government  into  an  aristocracy/' — Vol. 
III.,  p.  336. 

Under  the  doctrine  of  the  Vatican 
decrees,  the  highest  authority  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  is  vested  in  the 

117 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Pope.  His  declarations  ex  cathedra, 
carrying  the  sanction  of  infallibility,  are 
absolutely  binding  on  every  Roman  Cath- 
olic throughout  the  world.  The  famous 
bull  "Unam  Sanctam"  of  Boniface  VIII. 
and  many  subsequent  Papal  utterances 
declare  that  salvation  depends  on  accept- 
ance of  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
Pope.  The  greatest  popes  of  recent  times 
declare  unequivocally  that  every  member 
of  the  church  is  a  subject  of  the  Roman 
pontiff.  In  his  encyclical  letter,  "Sapien- 
ticz  Christiana"  of  January  10,  1890, 
Leo  XIII.  so  declares  in  the  following 
words : 

"But  the  man  who  has  embraced  the 
Christian  faith,  as  in  duty  bound,  is  by 
that  very  fact  a  subject  of  the  Church  as 
one  of  the  children  born  of  her,  and  be- 
comes a  member  of  that  greatest  and 
holiest  body,  which  it  is  the  special  charge 
of  the  Roman  pontiff  to  rule  with  su- 
preme pozver,  under  its  invisible  head, 
Jesus  Christ." — Great  Encyclical  Letters, 
p.  183. 

The     following    additional     excerpts 

118 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


from  the  same  encyclical  will  show  more 
clearly  the  Papal  claim  to  complete  fealty 
and  obedience  of  every  Roman  Catholic: 

"But  this  likewise  must  be  reckoned 
amongst  the  duties  of  Christians,  that 
they  allow  themselves  to  be  ruled  and 
directed  by  the  authority  and  leadership 
of  bishops,  and,  above  all,  of  the  Apos- 
tolic See. 

"In  addition  to  what  has  been  laid 
down,  it  is  necessary  to  enter  more  fully 
into  the  nature  of  the  Church.  She  is 
not  an  association  of  Christians  brought 
together  by  chance,  but  is  a  divinely 
established  and  admirably  constituted 
society,  having  for  its  direct  and  proxi- 
mate purpose  to  lead  the  world  to  peace 
and  holiness.  And  since  the  Church  alone 
has,  through  the  grace  of  God,  received 
the  means  necessary  to  realize  such  end, 
she  has  her  fixed  laws,  special  spheres  of 
action,  and  a  certain  method,  fixed  and 
conformable  to  her  nature,  of  governing 
Christian  peoples.  But  the  exercise  of 
such  governing  power  is  difficult,  and 
leaves  room  for  numberless  conflicts,  in- 
asmuch as  the  Church  rules  peoples  scat- 
tered through  every  portion  of  the  earth, 

119 


PAPAL  SOVEREIGNTY 


differing  in  race  and  customs,  who,  living 
under  the  sway  of  the  laws  of  their 
respective  countries,  owe  obedience  alike 
to  the  civil  and  religious  authorities. 

"Religion  should,  on  the  contrary,  be 
accounted  by  every  one  as  holy  and  in- 
/  violable;  nay,  in  the  public  order  itself 
of  States — which  can  not  be  severed  from 
the  laws  influencing  morals  and  from 
religious  duties — it  is  always  urgent,  and 
indeed  the  main  preoccupation,  to  take 
thought  how  best  to  consult  the  interests 
of  Catholicism.  Wherever  these  appear 
by  reason  of  the  efforts  of  adversaries  to 
be  in  danger,  all  differences  of  opinion 
among  Catholics  should  forthwith  cease, 
so  that,  like  thoughts  and  counsels  pre- 
vailing, they  may  hasten  to  the  aid  of 
religion,  the  general  and  supreme  good, 
to  which  all  else  should  be  referred." — 
Id.,  pp.  194,  195  and  197. 

The  foregoing  citations  establish 
clearly  that  the  Pope  claims  and  enjoys 
the  primary  and  supreme  fealty  and 
allegiance  of  every  Roman  Catholic.  A 
distinction  both  fundamental  and  far- 
reaching  is  thus  seen  between  the  Roman 
120 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Catholic  Church  and  every  other  denom- 
ination. No  other  religious  body  is 
bound  as  such  to  a  potentate  engaged  in 
world  politics  and  diplomacy  and  exer- 
cising jurisdiction  and  control  over  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  conduct  and  rela- 
tions of  its  membership. 

It  is  but  natural,  therefore,  that  the 
Papacy  has  stood  since  its  inception  as 
a  grave  political  problem  confronting 
every  government.  This  ever-present 
problem  has  embarrassed  statesmen,  dip- 
lomats and  scholars  some  thirteen  hun- 
dred years.  Speaking  of  this  peculiarity 
of  the  Papal  system,  Mr.  Gladstone  uses 
the  following  pertinent  language: 

"But  it  is  the  peculiarity  of  Roman 
theology  that,  by  thrusting  itself  into  the 
temporal  domain,  it  naturally,  and  even 
necessarily,  comes  to  be  a  frequent  theme 
of  political  discussion.  To  quiet-minded 
Roman  Catholics  it  must  be  a  subject  of 
infinite  annoyance  that  their  religion  is, 
on  this  ground  more  than  any  other,  the 
subject  of  criticism;  more  than  any  other 
the  occasion  of  conflicts  with  the  State 
and  of  civil  disquietude.  I  feel  sincerely 

121 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


how  much  hardship  their  case  entails. 
But  this  hardship  is  brought  upon  them 
altogether  by  the  conduct  of  the  author- 
ities of  their  own  Church.  Why  did 
theology  enter  so  largely  into  the  debates 
of  Parliament  on  Roman  Catholic  Eman- 
cipation? Certainly  not  because  our 
statesmen  and  debaters  of  fifty  years  ago 
had  an  abstract  love  of  such  controver- 
sies, but  because  it  was  extensively  be- 
lieved that  the  Pope  of  Rome  had  been 
and  was  a  trespasser  upon  ground  which 
belonged  to  the  civil  authority  and  that 
he  affected  to  determine  by  spiritual  pre- 
rogative questions  of  the  civil  sphere. 
This  fact,  if  fact  it  be,  and  not  the  truth 
or  falsehood,  the  reasonableness  or  un- 
reasonableness, of  any  article  of  purely 
religious  belief,  is  the  whole  and  sole 
cause  of  the  mischief.  To  this  fact,  and 
to  this  fact  alone,  my  language  is  refer- 
able; but  for  this  fact  it  would  have  been 
neither  my  duty  nor  my  desire  to  use  it. 
All  other  Christian  bodies  are  content 
with  freedom  in  their  own  religious 
domain.  Orientals,  Lutherans,  Calvin- 
ists,  Presbyterians,  Episcopalians,  Non- 
conformists, one  and  all,  in  the  present 
day,  contentedly  and  thankfully  accept 
the  benefits  of  civil  order;  never  pretend 
122 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


that  the  State  is  not  its  own  master; 
make  no  religious  claims  to  temporal  pos- 
sessions or  advantages;  and,  consequent- 
ly, never  are  in  perilous  collision  with 
the  State.  Nay,  more,  even  so  I  believe 
it  is  with  the  mass  of  Roman  Catholics 
individually.  But  not  so  with  the  leaders 
of  their  Church,  or  with  those  who  take 
pride  in  following  the  leaders." — The 
Vatican  Decrees  in  Their  Bearing  on 
Civil  Allegiance,  pp,  11,  12. 


123 


XIV 

CARDINALS  BELONG  TO  PAPAL  COURT 

1.  Every  cardinal  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Curia  Romano,  or  Papal  Court, 
which  assists  the  Pope  in  governing  the 
vast  Papal  Empire. 

The  Curia  Romana,  or  Roman  Court, 
is  the  most  elaborate  and  comprehensive 
executive  cabinet  in  the  world.  This 
court  embraces  all  ecclesiastical  officials 
which  the  Pope  uses  to  assist  him  in  the 
government  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  It  is  the  distinguishing  pride 
and  characteristic  of  cardinals  that  they 
all  are  members  of  this  court. 

Under  the  present  law  of  the  Papacy 
the  number  of  cardinals  in  the  world  is 
limited  to  seventy.  Six  of  these  are  offi- 
cially designated  as  cardinal-bishops,  fifty 
are  cardinal-priests,  and  fourteen  are 
cardinal-deacons.  Collectively  they  com- 
pose the  corporation  known  as  the  Col- 

124 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


lege  of  Cardinals  and  constitute  the  high- 
est and  chief  portion  of  the  Papal  Court 
or  cabinet. 

Rev.  Sebastian  B.  Smith,  heretofore 
quoted  as  an  eminent  Roman  Catholic 
authority  and  specialist  on  ecclesiastical 
law,  defines  the  duty  of  cardinals  and 
their  relation  to  the  Pope  and  the  entire 
Roman  Church  in  the  following  words: 

"Cardinals  are  the  immediate  coun- 
selors or  advisors  of  the  Pope,  and  form, 
so  to  speak,  the  senate  of  the  Roman 
Church.  Hence,  they  are  compared  to 
the  seventy  ancients  appointed  to  assist 
Moses,  and  to  the  apostles  chosen  to  aid 
our  Lord." — Elements  of  Ecclesiastical 
Law,  Vol.  I.,  Sec.  487. 

The  active  membership  of  every  car- 
dinal in  the  Papal  Court  is  so  vital  and 
his  fealty  to  the  Pope  as  sovereign  is  so 
intimate  and  profound  as  to  render  a 
cardinal  legally  incapable  of  representing 
any  government  as  its  ambassador  to  the 
Vatican.  Being  essentially  high  officials 
in  the  Papal  Empire,  all  cardinals  are 
bound  to  render  to  the  Pope  paramount 

125 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


and  exclusive  allegiance  in  his  political 
and  diplomatic  relations  with  the  civil 
governments  of  the  world.  A  concrete 
and  striking  illustration  of  this  occurred 
in  1875  when  the  German  Empire  sent 
Prince  Hohenlohe  as  its  diplomatic  rep- 
resentative to  the  Pope.  William  Edward 
Hall,  A.M.,  in  his  "Treatise  on  Inter- 
national Law,"  fourth  edition,  published 
in  London  in  1895,  at  page  313,  makes 
the  following  statement  of  the  law  appli- 
cable to  that  particular  case : 

"The  Pope  refused  in  1875  to  accept 
Prince  Hohenlohe  as  ambassador  from 
Germany  because,  being  a  cardinal,  he 
was  ex  officio  a  member  of  the  curia." 

Edwin  Maxey,  professor  of  consti- 
tutional and  international  law  in  West 
Virginia  University,  in  his  admirable 
text-book  published  in  St.  Louis  in  1906, 
states  the  same  fact  and  law  in  the 
following  words: 

"The  Pope  refused  to  receive  Prince 
Hohenlohe,  because  as  a  cardinal  he  was 
ex  officio  a  member  of  the  curia." — 
International  Law  by  Maxey,  p.  106. 

126 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Edwin  F.  Glenn,  who  was  then  Act- 
ing Judge  Advocate  of  the  United  States 
Army,  wrote  a  "Handbook  of  Interna- 
tional Law,"  which  was  published  in 
1895  as  a  hornbook  by  the  West  Publish- 
ing Company  at  St.  Paul.  On  page  107 
that  work  says : 

"In  1875  the  Pope  refused  to  receive 
Prince  Hohenlohe  as  ambassador  from 
Germany,  because,  being  a  cardinal,  he 
was,  ex  officio,  a  member  of  the  curia." 

In  the  officially  authorized  "Life  of 
Leo  XIII.,"  by  O'Reilly,  heretofore  de- 
scribed and  quoted,  the  same  facts  are 
stated  as  follows: 

"While  the  Falk  legislation  was  as 
yet  in  its  preparatory  stage,  it  was  sought 
either  to  obtain  the  tacit  acquiescence  of 
the  court  of  Rome  to  the  proposed  meas- 
ures, or  to  find  a  specious  pretext  for  a 
diplomatic  rupture.  Cardinal  Hohenlohe 
was  appointed  ambassador  of  the  Ger- 
man Empire  near  the  Holy  See.  Doubt- 
less the  cardinal  accepted  his  mission  in 
the  hope  of  preventing  greater  misfor- 
tunes; the  Pope,  at  any  rate,  refused  to 
receive  him.  And  so  all  diplomatic  inter- 

127 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


course  ceased  between  the  Vatican  and 
Berlin."— Page  470. 

It  thus  clearly  appears  that  the  para- 
mount allegiance  of  every  cardinal  is  to 
the  Papal  Empire  of  which  he  is  an 
official.  The  chief  pride  and  delight  of 
cardinals  seem  to  arise  from  this  political 
connection  and  fealty  to  Rome.  They 
seldom  lose  an  opportunity  to  declare 
themselves  princes,  and  as  such  clad  in 
the  Roman  purple,  a  color  belonging  to 
kings  and  emperors  in  every  land  and  in 
every  age  of  the  world. 

Smith's  "Elements  of  Ecclesiastical 
Law"  declares,  in  Section  493:  "Cardi- 
nals are,  moreover,  Roman  princes — nay, 
are  considered  princes  of  the  blood."  In 
Section  495,  the  same  work  states  as 
follows : 

"INSIGNIA  OF  CARDINALS. — These 
consist  chiefly:  1.  Of  the  red  hat  given 
them  by  Pope  Innocent  IV.  2.  The  red 
cap  bestowed  by  Paul  IV.  3.  The  sacred 
purple,  which  was  the  distinctive  dress 
of  the  emperors:  it  came  to  be  worn  by 
all  the  cardinals  from  the  time  of  Boni- 
face VIII."  \ 

~  -     128 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


On  August  20,  1916,  a  Roman  cardi- 
nal residing  in  this  country  delivered 
before  a  convention  of  Roman  Catholics 
in  New  York  an  extended  oration  where- 
in he  made  extravagant  statements  of 
the  loyalty  to  our  Government  of  all 
Roman  Catholics  in  the  United  States. 
This  speech  was  printed  in  the  "Con- 
gressional Record,"  at  the  expense  of  the 
Government,  on  September  6  following, 
by  the  grace  of  a  Roman  Catholic  mem- 
ber of  Congress* 

How  can  a  Roman  cardinal,  while 
boasting  that  he  is  a  prince  of  the  blood 
in  the  Papal  monarchy,  and  while  wear- 
ing the  Roman  purple  as  such  prince, 
consistently  pretend  any  fealty  or  devo- 
tion to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States?  The  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  Article  L,  Sections  9  and  10,  for- 
bids the  granting  of  any  title  of  nobility 
by  the  United  States  or  by  any  State. 
How  can  one,  when  boasting  that  he  is  a 
prince  in  a  foreign  monarchy,  do  such 
violence  to  consistency  as  to  claim 
patriotism  or  ciffzenship  in -this  country? 

9  129 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


All  cardinals  are  appointed  by  the 
Pope  alone,  and  the  Pope  is  elected  exclu- 
sively by  the  cardinals.  Under  the  nar- 
row and  exclusive  policy  fostered  by  this 
arrangement,  the  popes  have  been  able 
to  control  absolutely  for  many  centuries 
the  character  and  nationality  of  their 
successors.  For  this  purpose  a  majority 
of  the  cardinals  are  chosen  from  Italy, 
and,  in  consequence,  none  but  Italians 
have  been  elected  to  the  Papal  throne 
since  the  Middle  Ages. 

So  has  the  Papacy  become  distinc- 
tively an  Italian  dynasty.  The  foregoing 
statement  as  to  the  appointment  of  the 
cardinals  by  the  Pope,  and  the  election 
of  the  Pope  by  the  cardinals,  will  suffi- 
ciently appear  from  the  following  ex- 
cerpts from  the  article  on  cardinals  by 
Auguste  Boudinhon,  D.D.,  D.C.L.,  pro- 
fessor of  canon  law  in  the  Catholic  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  in  Volume  V.,  at  page 
323,  of  the  Encyclopaedia  Britannica, 
eleventh  edition: 

"The  creation  of  cardinals  (to  use 
the  official  term)  is  in  fact  nowadays  the 

ISO 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


function  of  the  Pope  alone.  It  is  accom 
plished  by  the  publication  of  the  persons 
chosen  by  the  Pope  in  secret  consistory. 
No  other  formality  is  essential;  and  the 
provision  of  Eugenius  IV.,  which  re- 
quired the  reception  of  the  insignia  of 
the  cardinalate  for  the  promotion  to  be 
valid,  was  abrogated  before  long,  and 
definitely  annulled  by  the  declaration  of 
Pius  V.  of  the  26th  of  January,  1571. 
Similarly,  neither  the  consent  nor  the 
vote  of  the  Sacred  College  is  required 

"The  most  lofty  function  of  the  car-  \ 
dinals  is  the  election  of  the  Pope." 

A  further  element  of  narrow  selfish-/ 
ness  touching  the  Papal  succession  is 
shown  in  the  fact  that,  though  any  mem- 
ber of  the  Roman  Church,  even  a  layman, 
is  eligible  to  the  Papacy,  the  cardinals 
have  uniformly  chosen  one  of  their  own 
number  during  a  period  of  more  than 
five  centuries,  as  appears  by  the  follow- 
ing statement: 

"Though  since  Urban  VI.  (1378-89) 
none  but  a  cardinal  has  been  elected  pope, 
no  law  reserves  to  the  cardinals  alone 

131 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


this  right." — Catholic  Encyclopedia,  Vol. 
IV.,  p.  194. 

The  popes  have  further  contrived  to 
enhance  the  preponderance  of  Italians  in 
the  conclave  by  decreeing  that  the  cardi- 
nals present  in  Rome  shall  proceed  to  the 
election  at  the  end  of  ten  days  from  the 
death  of  the  Pope,  without  awaiting  the 
arrival  of  their  absent  colleagues.  In 
view  of  the  impossibility  of  reaching  the 
Papal  capital  from  distant  lands  in  the 
brief  period  mentioned,  it  is  inevitable 
that  a  considerable  number  of  the  non- 
Italians  will  be  absent  when  the  election 
is  held.  The  law  as  here  stated  clearly 
appears  from  the  following  paragraph: 

"The  Pontifical  laws  regulating  every- 
thing that  regards  this,  the  highest  body 
of  electors  in  the  Church,  leave  no  room 
for  doubt  or  indecision.  It  is  expressly 
enjoined  that  the  cardinals  present  in 
Rome  shall  wait  for  ten  days  after  the 
death  of  a  pope,  and  that  then  they  shall 
enter  into  conclave  and  proceed  to  the 
election  of  a  successor  without  waiting 
for  the  arrival  of  their  absent  col- 

132 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


leagues."— Life  of  Leo  XIII. ,  by  O'Reilly, 
p.  292. 

On  December  1,  1911,  the  London 
Daily  Telegram  published  an  English 
translation  of  the  oath  administered  to 
cardinals  by  Papal  requirement,  and 
Monsignor  Canon  Moyse  admitted  the 
published  oath  to  be  genuine  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  London  Tablet  of  De- 
cember 16  following.  This  oath  is 
deemed  sufficiently  important  to  justify 
its  insertion  here  in  full. 

"OATH  OF  THE  CARDINALS. 

"I, ,  of  the  Holy  Roman  Church, 

cardinal    of    ,    promise    and    swear, 

from  this  hour  forward,  as  long  as  I 
shall  live,  to  be  faithful  and  obedient  to 
the  blessed  Peter  and  the  Holy  Roman 
Apostolic  Church,  and  our  Most  Holy 
Lord  Pius  X.,  and  his  canonically  elected 
successors ; 

"To  give  no  counsel  nor  to  concur  in 
anything  nor  aid  in  any  way  against  the 
pontifical  majesty  or  person ; 

"Never  to  disclose  affairs   entrusted  \ 
to  me  by  them  personally,  by  their  nun- 

133 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


cios,  or  by  letters,  willingly  or  knowingly, 
to  their  detriment  or  dishonor; 

"To  be  ever  ready  to  aid  them  to  re- 
tain, defend,  and  recover  their  rights 
against  all,  to  fight  with  all  zeal,  and  all 
my  forces,  for  their  honor  and  dignity, 

"To  direct  and  defend  honorably  and 
kindly  legates  and  nuncios  of  the  apos- 
tolic see  in  all  places  under  my  jurisdic- 
tion, to  provide  for  their  safe  journey, 
and  treat  them  honorably  going,  during 
their  stay,  and  during  their  return,  and 
to  resist  even  to  the  shedding  of  blood 
whosoever  would  attempt  anything 
against  them; 

"To  try  in  every  way  to  assert,  up- 
hold, preserve,  increase,  and  promote  the 
rights,  even  temporal,  especially  those  of 
the  civil  principality,  the  liberty,  the 
honor,  privileges,  and  authority  of  Holy 
Roman  Church,  of  our  lord  the  Pope, 
and  the  aforesaid  successors; 

"When  it  shall  come  to  my  knowledge 
that  some  machination,  prejudicial  to 
those  rights,  which  I  can  not  prevent,  is 
taking  place,  immediately  to  make  it 
known  to  the  Pope,  his  successor,  or  to 
some  one  qualified  to  convey  the  knowl- 
edge to  them; 

"To  observe  and  fulfil,  and  see  that 

134 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


others  observe  and  fulfil,  the  regulations, 
the  decrees  and  the  ordinances,  the  dis- 
pensations and  preservation  of  provisions 
and  apostolic  mandates,  the  constitutions 
of  Pope  Sixtus  V.  of  happy  memory, 
concerning  visits  'Ad  limina  Apostolo- 
rum'  at  the  prescribed  times,  according 
to  the  tenor  of  said  constitution; 

"To  combat  with  every  effort  her- 
etics, schismatics,  and  those  rebelling 
against  our  lord  the  Pope  and  his  suc- 
cessors ; 

"When  summoned  for  any  reason 
whatsoever  by  the  Holy  Father  or  his 
successor,  to  come  to  them,  or  when 
detained  by  a  just  cause  to  send  one  to 
present  my  excuses,  and  to  show  them 
due  reverence  and  obedience; 

"Never  to  sell  or  to  give  away,  mort- 
gage, or  alienate  without  consent  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  even  though  the  consent 
of  said  chapter  or  convents  or  churches 
or  monasteries  or  their  benefices  be  had, 
the  possessions  belonging  to  the  'mensa' 
of  the  church,  monasteries,  or  other 
benefices  committed  to  me ; 

"Likewise  to  observe  inviolably  the 
constitution  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff  Pius 
X.,  which  begins  'Vacante  Sede  Apos- 
tolica'  given  at  Rome  the  twenty-fifth 

135 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


day  of  December,  in  the  year  1904,  con- 
cerning the  vacancy  of  the  Holy  See  and 
the  election  of  the  Roman  Pontiff;  and 
to  lend  no  help  nor  countenance  to  any 
intervention  of  the  civil  power  in  the 
election  of  the  Pope;  likewise, 

"To  observe  minutely  each  and  all  of 
the  decrees,  especially  those  which  have 
emanated  from  the  sacred  congregation 
of  the  ceremonies,  or  those  to  come  from 
it,  relative  to  the  sublime  dignity  of  the 
cardinalate,  nor  to  do  anything  which 
would  be  repugnant  to  the  honor  and 
dignity  of  it,  and  to  pay  the  rights  of 
the  cardinal's  ring  conceded  by  Gregory 
XL  to  the  'Sancta  Congregatio  de  Prop- 
aganda Fide.' 

"So  help  me  God  and  these  holy 
gospels." 

In  case  of  diplomatic  or  other  differ- 
ences or  transactions  between  the  Papacy 
and  the  civil  government,  it  is  manifest 
that  any  cardinal  living  within  the  juris- 
diction of  this  or  any  other  country  would 
be  compelled  to  choose  between  treason 
to  the  civil  government  and  violation  of 
the  foregoing  oath  of  obedience  and 
fealty  to  the  Pope. 

136 


XV 

BISHOPS  ARE  CREATURES  AND 
DEPUTIES  OF  THE  POPE 

2.  Every  Roman  Catholic  bishop  is 
appointed  by  the  Pope,  and  is  a  procu- 
rator of  the  Papal  Empire. 

In  past  ages  various  modes  of  ap- 
pointing Roman  bishops  have  obtained. 
During  the  closing  centuries  of  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  many  and  fierce  conflicts  arose 
between  the  Pope  and  various  other 
monarchs  concerning  the  right  to  appoint 
bishops,  the  popes  claiming  that  right 
exclusively  for  themselves,  while  other 
sovereigns  claimed  substantial  preroga- 
tives touching  the  matter  in  their  respec- 
tive countries.  In  the  fourteenth  century 
exclusive  power  to  appoint  bishops 
throughout  the  world  began  to  be  ac- 
corded to  the  Roman  pontiffs.  The  fol- 
lowing statement  discloses  clearly  that  all 
bishops  now  owe  their  appointment  and 

137 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


their    episcopal    authority    to    the    Pope: 

"343.  Owing  to  abuses  consequent  on 
elections  by  chapters,  the  Sovereign  Pon- 
tiffs began,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  to 
reserve  to  themselves  the  appointment  of 
bishops.  Clement  V.  took  the  first  step 
in  this  matter  by  reserving  the  appoint- 
ment to  some  bishoprics;  John  XXII. 
increased  the  number,  and  Pope  Benedict 
XII.  (1334)  finally  reserved  to  the  Holy 
See  the  appointment  (:.  e.,  the  election 
and  confirmation)  of  all  the  bishops  of 
the  Catholic  world.  Elections  by  chap- 
ters were  consequently  discontinued 
everywhere.  Afterwards,  however,  the 
right  of  election  was  restored  to  cathedral 
chapters  in  some  parts  of  Germany,  so 
that  in  these  parts  only  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops are  still,  as  of  old,  canonically 
elected  by  their  cathedral  chapters. 

"344.  Were  the  Roman  Pontiffs  guilty 
of  usurpation  in  reserving  to  themselves 
the  appointment  of  bishops? 

"A.  By  no  means ;  for  the  Pope  alone 
is,  by  virtue  of  his  primacy,  vested  with 
potestas  ordinaria,  not  only  to  confirm, 
but  also  to  elect,  bishops.  Hence  it  was 
only  by  the  consent,  express  or  tacit,  of 
the  Popes  that  others  ever  did  or  could 

138 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


validly  elect  bishops." — Elements  of 
Ecclesiastical  Law,  by  S.  B.  Smith,  Sees. 
343,  344. 

In  his  encyclical  letter,  "Sapientice 
Christiana"  of  January  10,  1890,  Pope 
Leo  XIII.  declares  that  every  bishop  is 
a  Roman  Catholic  prince,  in  the  following 
statement : 

"Now  the  administration  of  Christian 
affairs  immediately  under  the  Roman 
Pontiff  appertains  to  the  bishops,  who. 
although  they  attain  not  to  the  summit 
of  pontifical  power,  are  nevertheless  truly 
princes  in  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy." — 
Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope  Leo 
XIII. ,  p.  202. 

A  Roman  Catholic  author,  in  dis- 
cussing the  general  powers  of  bishops, 
states : 

"Whatever  opinion  may  be  held,  it  is 
certain  that  bishops  can  not  validly  exer- 
cise any  episcopal  jurisdiction  without 
having  been  appointed  by  the  Sovereign 
Pontiff  to  some  see." — Elements  of  Eccle- 
siastical Law,  by  S.  B.  Smith,  Sec.  535. 

Every  bishop  and  ecclesiastic  in  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  is  bound  to  the 

139 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Pope  by  such  obligations  that  the  law  of 
the  church  does  not  permit  such  persons 
to  take  an  oath  of  fealty  or  allegiance  to 
any  other  prince  or  potentate,  as  the 
following  statement  clearly  discloses: 

".  .  .  At  the  celebrated  Council  of 
Clermont  (1095),  at  which  the  first 
Crusade  was  preached,  Urban  strength- 
ened the  former  prohibitions  by  declar- 
ing that  no  one  might  accept  any  spiritual 
office  from  a  layman,  or  take  an  oath  of 
fealty  to  any  layman." — Encyclopedia 
Britannica,  Vol.  XIV.,  p.  722. 

All  bishops  are  required  to  bind  them- 
selves to  the  Papacy  by  a  solemn  oath 
substantially  identical  with  the  oath  of  a 
cardinal,  as  given  in  the  last  preceding 
chapter  of  this  work.  The  cathedral  of 
each  bishop  is  supplied  also  with  a  throne 
which  the  bishop  occupies  to  demonstrate 
his  own  gubernatorial  authority  as  a  pro- 
curator under  the  imperial  sway  of  the 
Sovereign  Pontiff.  The  foregoing  facts 
and  others  of  interest  are  set  forth  in 
the  following  quotation : 

"The  bishop  is  consecrated  after  tak- 

140 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


ing  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  Holy  See, 
and  subscribing  the  profession  of  faith, 
by  a  bishop  appointed  by  the  Pope  for 
the  purpose,  assisted  by  at  least  two  other 
bishops  or  prelates,  the  main  features  of 
the  act  being  the  laying  on  of  hands,  the 
anointing  with  oil,  and  the  delivery  of 
the  pastoral  staff  and  other  symbols  of 
the  office.  After  consecration  the  new 
bishop  is  solemnly  enthroned  and  blesses 
the  assembled  congregation. 

'The  potestas  ordinis  of  the  bishop  is 
not  peculiar  to  the  Roman  Church,  and, 
in  general,  is  claimed  by  all  bishops, 
whether  oriental  or  anglican,  belonging 
to  churches  which  have  retained  the 
Catholic  tradition  in  this  respect.  Be- 
sides the  full  functions  of  the  presby- 
terate,  or  priesthood,  bishops  have  the 
sole  right  (1)  to  confer  holy  orders,  (2) 
to  administer  confirmation,  (3)  to  pre- 
pare the  holy  oil,  or  chrism,  (4)  to  conse- 
crate sacred  places  or  utensils  (churches, 
churchyards,  altars,  &c.),  (5)  to  give  the 
benediction  to  abbots  and  abbesses,  (6) 
to  anoint  kings.  In  the  matter  of  their 
rights  of  jurisdiction,  however,  Roman 
Catholic  bishops  differ  from  others  in 
their  peculiar  responsibility  to  the  Holy 
See.  Some  of  their  powers  of  legislation 

141 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


and  administration  they  possess  motu 
proprio  in  virtue  of  their  position  as 
diocesan  bishops,  others  they  enjoy  under 
special  faculties  granted  by  the  Holy  See ; 
but  all  bishops  are  bound,  by  an  oath 
taken  at  the  time  of  their  consecration, 
to  go  to  Rome  at  fixed  intervals  (visit are 
sacra  limina  apostolorum)  to  report  in 
person,  and  in  writing,  on  the  state  of 
their  dioceses. 

"The  Roman  bishop  ranks  immediate- 
ly after  the  cardinals;  he  is  styled  rever- 
endissimus,  sanctissimus  or  beatissimus. 
In  English  the  style  is  'Right  Reverend'; 
the  bishops  being  addressed  as  'my  lord 
bishop/ 

"The  insignia  (pontificalia  or  pontifi- 
cals) of  the  Roman  Catholic  bishop  are 
(1)  a  ring  with  a  jewel,  symbolizing 
fidelity  to  the  church,  (2)  the  pastoral 
staff,  (3)  the  pectoral  cross,  (4)  the 
vestments,  consisting  of  the  caligae,  stock- 
ings and  sandals,  the  tunicle,  and  purple 
gloves,  (5)  the  mitre,  symbol  of  the 
royal  priesthood,  (6)  the  throne  (cathe- 
dra) surmounted  by  a  baldachin  or  can- 
opy, on  the  gospel  side  of  the  choir  in  the 
cathedral  church." — Encyclopedia  Brit- 
annica,  eleventh  ed.,  Vol.  IV.,  p.  2. 

142 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


The  requirement  of  the  Pope  that 
every  bishop  must  visit  the  Holy  See  in 
person  at  regular  intervals,  and  report 
the  condition  of  his  see,  is  fully  set  forth 
in  the  following  statement: 

"The  bishop  has  also  obligations  re- 
garding the  Holy  See.  Throughout  his 
entire  administration  he  must  conform 
to  the  general  legislation  of  the  Church 
and  the  direction  of  the  pope.  In  this 
respect  two  special  obligations  are  in- 
cumbent upon  him:  he  must  pay  the 
Visit  atio  ad  limina  Apostolorum,  and  pre- 
sent the  Relatio  de  statu  diocesis;  i.  e.,  he 
must  visit  the  shrines  of  Sts.  Peter  and 
Paul  at  Rome  and  present  a  report  of  the 
condition  of  his  diocese.  The  Decretals 
imposed  this  obligation  upon  the  bishops 
whose  consecration  the  pope  reserves  to 
himself.  It  has  become  general  since  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  Sixtus  definitely 
ruled  in  favor  of  this  obligation  (Bull 
'Romanus  Pontifex,'  20  December, 
1585).  According  to  this  Bull  the  bish- 
ops of  Italy,  and  the  neighboring  islands 
of  Dalmatia  and  Greece,  must  make  the 
visit  ad  limina  every  three  years;  those 
of  Germany,  France,  Spain,  England, 
Portugal,  Belgium,  Bohemia,  Hungary, 

143 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Poland  and  the  islands  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean Sea  every  four  years ;  those  of  other 
parts  of  Europe,  of  North  Africa  and  the 
isles  of  the  Atlantic  Ocean  situate  to  the 
New  World,  every  five  years;  those  of 
other  parts  of  the  world,  every  ten  years. 
.  .  .  The  bishops  must  pay  this  visit  per- 
sonally, and  for  this  purpose  are  allowed 
to  absent  themselves  from  their  dioceses, 
the  bishops  of  Italy  for  four  months, 
other  bishops  for  seven  months.  .  .  . 

".  .  .  The  Visitatio  liminum  includes 
a  visit  to  the  tombs  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul,  an  audience  with  the  Holy  Father, 
and  a  written  report  which  the  bishop 
ought  to  present  to  the  Congregation  of 
the  Council  according  to  the  formula  of 
Benedict  XIII.  in  1725."— Catholic  Ency- 
clopedia, Vol.  II.,  p.  588. 

These  enthroned  Roman  bishops,  wear- 
ing the  mitre  of  "royal  priesthood/'  bound 
to  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Empire  by  the  most  solemn  oaths 
of  fealty,  and  prohibited  from  taking 
any  oath  of  fealty  to  this  or  any  gov- 
ernment, are  a  discordant  and  alien  and 
dangerous  ingredient  in  this  great,  free 
republic. 

144 


XVI 

PAPAL  SUBJECTS  IN  AMERICAN 
POLITICS 

3.  Many  millions  of  Papal  subjects 
enjoy  all  rights  of  American  citizenship, 
participating  aggressively  in  our  politics, 
and  holding  many  of  the  highest  public 
offices  in  the  United  States. 

The  Official  Catholic  Directory  for 
1917,  bearing  the  imprimatur  of  the 
Cardinal  Archbishop  of  New  York,  gives 
the  number  of  Roman  Catholics  in  the 
United  States,  exclusive  of  our  insular 
possessions,  as  17,022,879.  The  vast  pre- 
ponderance of  these  claim  and  enjoy  all 
the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  citizenship. 
They  are  crowded  chiefly  into  our  great 
cities.  Nearly  three  millions  are  in  New 
York  State,  a  very  large  per  cent,  being 
in  Greater  New  York  City.  The  other 
great  municipalities  contain  immense 
numbers  of  them. .  The  presence  in  each 

10  145 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


great  city  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
these  Papal  subjects  under  the  abject  con- 
trol of  the  local  cardinal  or  archbishop, 
with  his  army  of  subordinate  prelates, 
priests  and  politicians,  has  sunken  our 
municipal  politics  to  the  shameless  depths 
of  corruption  and  degradation  that  all 
good  citizens  so  much  deplore.  This 
Roman  Catholic  vote  in  control  of  the 
vast  Papal  system  is  the  political  weapon 
that  has  enabled  Tammany  Hall  to  domi- 
nate and  plunder  New  York  City  a  hun- 
dred years. 

Subjects  of  the  Papal  Empire  hold 
many  public  offices  of  great  rank  and 
power  in  every  department  of  our  nation- 
al, State  and  local  governments.  The 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  the  Associate  Justice 
ranking  next  to  the  Chief,  the  Clerk  and 
the  Marshal  of  that  great  tribunal  are 
subjects  of  the  Roman  Church,  which  the 
Pope  rules  with  supreme  power,  as  stated 
by  Pope  Leo  XIII.  in  the  quotation  given 
in  Chapter  XII.  of  this  work.  A  very 
considerable  number  of  Roman  subjects 

146 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


sit  on  the  circuit  and  district  court  bench- 
es of  the  United  States,  while  hosts  of 
them  are  in  the  supreme  and  inferior 
courts  of  the  various  States.  From  the 
President's  secretary  down  through  every 
executive  department  of  our  Federal 
Government  they  are  entrenched  in 
countless  strategical  positions.  Scores  of 
them  sit  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  hundreds  have  found  their 
way  into  the  State  Legislatures,  and 
virtually  all  these  are  diligent  in  pro- 
moting the  political  purposes  of  the  Papal 
system.  From  the  highest  officer  in  our 
navy,  all  down  the  lines  of  our  military 
and  naval  establishments,  these  Papal 
subjects  hold  many  offices  of  great  power. 
Boasting  three  million  Roman  Cath- 
olic votes  in  the  United  States,  the  Papal 
hierarchy  boldly  demands  financial  and 
political  preferment  at  the  hands  of  every 
Governmental  department,  and  tacitly  or 
openly  threatens  the  political  and  finan- 
cial ruin  of  all  who  dare  to  resist  these 
demands.  With  the  selfish  deliberation 
and  sagacity  acquired  in  a  thousand  years 

147 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  intrigue  and  plunder,  the  Papal 
Empire  is  steadily  invading  our  country. 
Critical  international  relations  inci- 
dent to  the  great  European  War  have 
elicited  much  serious  thought  and  discus- 
sion of  the  allegiance  to  our  Government 
of  citizens  of  foreign  birth  or  descent. 
This  discussion  has  brought  into  cur- 
rency the  phrase  "hyphenated  allegi- 
ance." Citizens  of  great  political  wisdom 
and  wide  experience  in  public  affairs  have 
freely  expressed  grave  misgivings  as  to 
the  loyalty  of  upright  persons  with  a 
sentimental  attachment  to  the  land  of 
their  birth,  while  ignoring  the  presence 
among  us  of  the  millions  whose  para- 
mount allegiance  to  the  crowned  and 
reigning  sovereign  prince  of  the  world- 
embracing  Papal  Empire  can  not  be 
denied. 


148 


XVII 

VAST  AMERICAN  PROPERTIES  CON- 
TROLLED BY  THE  POPE 

4.  Title  to  all  real  and  personal  prop- 
erty held  by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
in  this  country  is  vested  in  the  cardinals 
and  bishops,  and  controlled  directly  by 
the  Pope. 

In  all  parts  of  the  United  States  are 
choice  tracts  of  land  occupied  by  the 
massive  buildings  that  attest  the  wealth 
and  power  of  the  Papal  system.  It  would 
be  impossible  to  estimate  the  value  in 
money  of  these  immense  properties,  many 
of  which  are  used  for  commercial  and 
speculative  purposes,  and  which  are  ex- 
empted from  taxation  by  our  National 
and  State  Governments.  The  aggregate 
value  would  doubtless  mount  high  into 
the  hundreds  of  millions — perhaps  into 
billions — of  dollars. 

But  title  to  all  these  Roman  Catholic 

149 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


properties  is  vested  in  the  three  cardinals 
as  archbishops  of  New  York,  Boston  and 
Baltimore,  and  in  the  other  bishops 
throughout  the  country.  The  Third 
Plenary  Council  of  Baltimore,  which  was 
held  under  the  sanction  of  Pope  Leo  XIII. 
and  presided  over  by  his  delegate,  so 
decreed,  as  shown  by  the  following  state- 
ment: 

'The  Third  Plenary  Council  denned 
more  exactly  what  was  meant  by  secure 
methods  of  ownership  according  to  civil 
law,  directing  that  (1)  the  bishop  him- 
self be  constituted  a  corporation  sole  for 
possessing  and  administering  the  goods 
of  the  whole  diocese;  or  (2)  that  the 
"bishop  hold  the  goods  in  trust  in  the 
name  of  the  diocese;  or  (3)  that  the 
bishop  hold  and  administer  the  church 
property  in  his  own  name  (in  fee  simple) 
by  an  absolute  and  full  legal  title.  In  the 
last  case  the  bishop  is  to  remember  that, 
though  before  the  civil  law  he  is  the  abso- 
lute owner,  yet  by  the  sacred  canons  he 
is  only  procurator." — Catholic  Encyclo- 
pedia, Vol.  XII,  p.  473. 

That  none  of  the  church  property  can 
be  disposed  of  without  the  express  direc- 

150 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


tion  of  the  Pope  clearly  appears  from  the 
following  declaration  of  ecclesiastical 
law: 

"According  to  the  C.  Ap.  Sedis  of 
Pius  IX.,  it  is,  generally  speaking,  for- 
bidden, under  pain  of  excommunication 
latcc  sentential,  to  alienate  (*.  e.,  to  sell, 
mortgage,  lease  for  more  than  three 
years,  etc.)  Church  property,  movable  or 
immovable — or,  as  others  express  it, 
ecclesiastical  immovables  (bona  eccle.  im- 
mobilia)  and  valuable  movables  (mobilia 
pretiosa) — without  permission  from  the 
Holy  See.  We  say  (a)  generally  speak- 
ing; for  ecclesiastical  things  may  be 
alienated  without  Papal  leave — v.  g.,  if 
they  are  of  little  or  no  use,  if  recourse 
to  Rome  is  difficult,  etc.  We  say  (b)  of 
considerable  value;  for  things,  both  mov- 
able and  immovable,  worth,  v.  g.,  only 
$25,  or,  according  to  some,  $100,  may  be 
alienated  by  leave  from  the  bishop. 
Whether  the  above  law,  requiring  the 
pontifical  permission  for  the  alienation 
of  Church  property,  has,  by  virtue  of 
custom  to  the  contrary,  ceased  to  be 
obligatory  outside  of  Italy,  seems  a  dis- 
puted question.  Does  it  obtain  in  the 
United  States?  It  does  with  regard  to 

151 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


all  alienations  involving  a  sum  greater 
than  $5,000." — Elements  of  Ecclesiastical 
Law,  by  S.  B.  Smith,  Vol.  I.,  Sec.  668. 

Suppose  princes  of  the  royal  blood  as 
members  of  the  imperial  court  of  some 
other  foreign  potentate  and  procurators 
of  that  potentate  held  title  to  vast  real 
and  personal  properties  in  every  city, 
town  and  village  of  this  country,  and 
that  none  of  such  properties  could  be 
sold  or  disposed  of  without  first  obtain- 
ing consent  of  the  crowned  and  reigning 
potentate  seated  on  his  foreign  throne; 
how  would  the  American  people  regard 
such  a  condition?  That  is  precisely  the 
status  of  all  Roman  Catholic  property  in 
the  United  States.  Though  protected  by 
law  equally  with  the  property  of  Amer- 
ican citizens,  this  Papal  wealth  pays  not 
one  dollar  of  revenue,  while  the  loyal 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  their 
property  bear  all  the  financial  burdens  of 
the  Government. 


152 


XVIII 

PAPACY  HOSTILE  TO  OUR  INSTITU- 
TIONS 

HI.  The  Remain  Catholic  Church  is 
Fundamentally  Hostile  to  Every  Principle 
of  Free  Government. 

The  chief  corner-stone  of  popular 
government  is  the  supreme  sovereignty 
of  the  people.  The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence lays  down  as  self-evident  the 
truth  that  all  governments  derive  their 
just  powers  from  the  consent  of  the  gov- 
erned. Fleeing  from  arbitrary  power  in 
the  hands  of  European  despots,  the 
founders  of  this  republic  were  deeply 
impressed  with  the  civil  equality  and 
sovereign  rights  of  all  mankind. 

Since  the  founding  of  our  Govern- 
ment the  popes  have  not  ceased  to  con- 
demn as  essentially  vicious  the  principle 
of  popular  sovereignty.  In  his  encyclical 

153 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


letter,  "Immortale  Dei''  of  November  1, 
1885,  Pope  Leo  XIII.  expressed  his 
hatred  and  condemnation  of  government 
by  the  people  in  the  following  bitter 
denunciation : 

"The  sovereignty  of  the  people,  how- 
ever, and  this  without  any  deference  to 
God,  is  held  to  reside  in  the  multitude; 
which  is  doubtless  a  doctrine  exceedingly 
well  calculated  to  flatter  and  to  inflame 
many  passions,  but  which  lacks  all  reason- 
able proof,  and  'all  power  of  insuring 
public  safety  and  preserving  order.  In- 
deed, from  the  prevalence  of  this  teach- 
ing, things  have  come  to  such  a  pass  that 
many  hold  as  an  axiom  of  civil  jurispru- 
dence that  seditions  may  be  rightfully 
fostered.  For  the  opinion  prevails  that 
princes  are  nothing  more  than  delegates 
chosen  to  carry  out  the  will  of  the  people ; 
whence  it  necessarily  follows  that  all 
things  are  as  changeable  as  the  will  of 
the  people,  so  that  risk  of  public  dis- 
turbance is  ever  hanging  over  our 
heads." — Great  Encyclical  Letters,  p.  123. 

Contrast  the  foregoing  Papal  con- 
demnation with  the  immortal  speech  of 
Lincoln  at  Gettysburg,  wherein  he  spoke 

154 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


with  such  reverence  of  "government  of 
the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people." 
Contrast  the  Papal  denunciation  of  sedi- 
tion, or  the  uprising  of  the  people  against 
oppressive  government,  with  Jefferson's 
statement  in  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  people 
to  alter  or  abolish  the  government  that 
becomes  destructive  of  human  rights. 
Contrast  it  with  the  purpose  expressed 
in  the  preamble  of  our  National  Consti- 
tution "to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty 
to  ourselves  and  our  posterity." 

The  immediate  predecessor  of  the 
foregoing  pope,  Pius  IX.,  in  Clause  39 
of  his  "Syllabus  of  Errors,"  made  public 
December  8,  1864,  also  condemned  the 
civil  sovereignty  of  the  people  by  brand- 
ing as  erroneous  the  following  declara- 
tion of  human  rights: 

"39.  The  commonwealth  is  the  origin 
and  source  of  all  rights,  and  possesses 
rights  which  are  not  circumscribed  by 
any  limits." 

Space  forbids  the  insertion  of  numer- 
ous other  Papal  declarations  in  harmony 

155 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


with  the  foregoing  from  the  ablest  popes 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  state- 
ments here  given  are  deemed  sufficient 
to  show  clearly  the  essential  and  un- 
wavering hostility  of  the  Papal  system 
to  democratic  and  representative  institu- 
tions. 


156 


XIX 

SEPARATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATE 

1.  The  Papacy  stands  in  uncompro- 
mising opposition  to  separation  of  Church 
and  State. 

The  authors  of  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  impressed  with  the 
sorrow  and  oppression  that  had  befallen 
Europe  by  reason  of  the  union  of  the 
civil  and  ecclesiastical  powers,  provided 
in  Article  VI.  that  no  religious  test 
should  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification 
to  public  office.  The  people  were  so 
desirous  to  safeguard  all  popular  rights 
that  they  incorporated  the  following  as 
the  first  amendment  to  the  Constitution: 

"Congress  shall  make  no  law  respect- 
ing an  establishment  of  religion,  or  pro- 
hibiting the  free  exercise  thereof;  or 
abridging  the  freedom  of  speech,  or  of 
the  press;  or  the  right  of  the  people 
peaceably  to  assemble,  and  to  petition  the 

157 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Government  for  a  redress  of  grievances." 

Against  every  right  of  the  people 
vouchsafed  in  the  foregoing  amendment, 
the  highest  authorities  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  have  continued  till  the 
present  time  to  hurl  sweeping  denuncia- 
tions. Opposition  of  the  Papal  system 
to  separation  of  Church  and  State  will 
sufficiently  appear  from  the  following: 

"Hence  follows  the  fatal  theory  of  the 
need  of  separation  between  Church  and 
State.  But  the  absurdity  of  such  a  posi- 
tion is  manifest." — Great  Encyclical  Let- 
ters of  Leo  XIIL,  p.  148. 

"With  treacherous  phrases  about  lib- 
erty of  conscience  and  separation  of  the 
State  from  the  Church,  it  takes  advan- 
tage to  weaken  the  bonds  of  religion,  to 
accredit  indifferentism,  and  to  please  the 
heretic  and  the  unbeliever  by  a  fashion 
of  marriage  suited  to  their  minds." — 
Letter  of  Cardinal  Pecci  (afterwards 
Leo  XIIL)  to  King  of  Italy,  "Life  of 
Leo  XIII."  by  O'Reilly,  p.  222. 

"But  this  teaching  is  understood  in 
two  ways.  Many  wish  the  State  to  be 
separated  from  the  Church  wholly  and 
entirely,  so  that  in  regard  to  every  right 

158 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  human  society,  in  institutions,  customs 
and  laws,  the  officers  of  States,  and  the 
education  of  youth,  they  would  pay  no 
more  regard  to  the  Church  than  if  she 
did  not  exist;  and,  at  most,  would  allow 
the  citizens  individually  to  attend  to  their 
religion  in  private  if  so  minded.  Against 
such  as  these,  all  the  arguments  by  which 
We  disprove  the  principle  of  separation 
of  Church  and  State  are  conclusive ;  with 
this  superadded,  that  it  is  absurd  the 
citizen  should  respect  the  Church,  while 
the  State  may  hold  her  in  contempt" — 
Great  Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope  Leo 
XIII. ,  p.  160. 

Pope  Pius  IX.  condemned  as  error 
the  doctrine  that 

"The  Church  ought  to  be  separated 
from  the  State,  and  the  State  from  the 
Church." — Syllabus  of  Errors,  Clause  55. 

Pope  Gregory  XVI.  also  condemned 
separation  of  Church  and  State  in  the 
following  words : 

"Nor  can  We  hope  for  happier  re- 
sults, either  for  religion  or  for  the  civil 
government,  from  the  wishes  of  those 
who  desire  that  the  Church  be  separated 
from  the  State,  and  the  concord  between 

150 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


the  secular  and  ecclesiastical  authority  be 
dissolved." — Great  Encyclical  Letters  of 
Pope  Leo  XIII. ,  p.  125. 

From  among  many  Papal  utterances 
condemning  liberty  of  conscience  and 
worship,  only  the  following  from  Leo 
XIII.  can  be  produced  here: 

"To  make  this  more  evident,  the 
growth  of  liberty  ascribed  to  our  age 
must  be  considered  apart  in  its  various 
details.  And,  first,  let  us  examine  that 
liberty  in  individuals  which  is  so  opposed, 
to  the  virtue  of  religion;  namely,  the  lib- 
erty of  worship,  as  it  is  called.  This  is 
based  on  the  principle  that  every  man  is 
free  to  profess  as  he  may  choose  any 
religion  or  none." — Id.,  p.  149. 

The  inherent  tyranny  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church,  and  its  hatred  of  relig- 
ious and  civil  liberty  as  embodied  in  our 
Constitution  and  laws,  appear  unmis- 
takably from  the  following: 

"And  it  is  a  part  of  this  theory  that 
all  questions  that  concern  religion  are  to 
be  referred  to  private  judgment;  that 
every  one  is  to  be  free  to  follow  what- 
ever religion  he  prefers,  or  none  at  all 

160 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


if  he  disapprove  of  all.  From  this  the 
following  consequences  logically  flow: 
that  the  judgment  of  each  one's  con- 
science is  independent  of  all  law;  that 
the  most  unrestrained  opinions  may  be 
openly  expressed  as  to  the  practice  or 
omission  of  divine  worship;  and  that 
every  one  has  unbounded  license  to  think 
whatever  he  chooses  and  to  publish 
abroad  whatever  he  thinks. 

"Now,  when  the  State  rests  on  foun- 
dations like  those  just  named — and  for 
the  time  being  they  are  greatly  in  favor 
— it  readily  appears  into  what  and  how 
unrightful  a  position  the  Church  is 
driven.  For  when  the  management  of 
public  business  is  in  harmony  with  doc- 
trines of  such  a  kind,  the  Catholic  relig- 
ion is  allowed  a  standing  in  civil  society 
equal  only,  or  inferior,  to  societies  alien 
from  it;  no  regard  is  paid  to  the  laws  of 
the  Church,  and  she  who,  by  the  order 
and  commission  of  Jesus  Christ,  has  the 
duty  of  teaching  all  nations,  finds  her- 
self forbidden  to  take  any  part  in  the 
instruction  of  the  people.  With  refer- 
ence to  matters  that  are  of  twofold  juris- 
diction, they  who  administer  the  civil 
power  lay  down  the  law  at  their  own 
will,  and  in  matters  that  appertain  to 

11  161 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


religion  defiantly  put  aside  the  most 
sacred  decrees  of  the  Church.  They 
claim  jurisdiction  over  the  marriages  of 
Catholics,  even  over  the  bond  as  well  as 
the  unity  and  the  indissolubility  of  matri- 
mony. They  lay  hands  on  the  goods  of 
the  clergy,  contending  that  the  Church 
can  not  possess  property.  Lastly,  they 
treat  the  Church  with  such  arrogance 
that,  rejecting  entirely  her  title  to  the 
nature  and  rights  of  a  perfect  society, 
they  hold  that  she  differs  in  no  respect 
from  other  societies  in  the  State,  and  for 
this  reason  possesses  no  right  nor  any 
legal  power  of  action,  save  that  which 
she  holds  by  the  concession  and  favor  of 
the  government.  If  in  any  State  the 
Church  retains  her  own  right — and  this 
with  the  approval  of  the  civil  law,  owing 
to  an  agreement  publicly  entered  into  by 
the  two  powers — men  forthwith  begin  to 
cry  out  that  matters  affecting  the  Church 
must  be  separated  from  those  of  the 
State."— Id.,  p.  121. 


162 


XX 

FREEDOM  OF  SPEECH  AND  PRESS 

2.  Freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press  is  denounced  by  the  popes  as 
vicious  and  intolerable. 

The  Papacy  attained  its  imperial 
greatness  during  the  Dark  Ages.  A  crea- 
ture of  darkness,  it  can  not  endure  the 
light  of  public  discussion.  Its  policy  has 
always  been  to  suppress  freedom  of 
thought  and  expression  by  the  heavy 
hand  of  authority.  In  lands  dominated 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  there  is 
virtually  no  free  periodical  press,  and 
freedom  of  speech  as  understood  in  Prot- 
estant lands  is  totally  unknown. 

Pope  Leo  XIII.  sets  forth  the  attitude 
of  the  Papacy  towards  freedom  of 
thought  and  expression  in  the  following 
declarations : 

"From  what  has  been  said,  it  follows 

163 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


that  it  is  quite  unlawful  to  demand,  to 
defend,  or  to  grant  unconditional  free- 
dom of  thought,  of  speech,  of  writing,  or 
of  worship,  as  if  these  were  so  many 
rights  given  by  nature  to  man." — Great 
Encyclical  Letters  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  p. 
161. 

"If  unbridled  license  of  speech  and  of 
writing  be  granted  to  all,  nothing  will 
remain  sacred  and  inviolate;  even  the 
highest  and  truest  mandates  of  nature, 
justly  held  to  be  the  common  and  noblest 
heritage  of  the  human  race,  will  not  be 
spared." — Id.,  p.  152. 

The  hostility  of  the  Papal  Empire  to 
freedom  of  the  press  is  further  shown 
by  the  fact  that  Roman  Catholic  repre- 
sentatives in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States  have  sought  with  great  energy 
and  diligence  to  secure  legislation  that 
would  enable  the  Postmaster  General  to 
suppress  and  destroy,  without  notice, 
trial  or  opportunity  to  make  defense,  any 
publication  that  may  offend  the  Roman 
lierarchy.  These  assaults  on  one  of  the 
most  fundamental  rights  of  constitutional 
liberty  were  made  with  great  vigor  in 

164 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


the  Sixty-third  Congress,  and  were  re- 
newed in  the  Sixty- fourth.  Five  separate 
bills  have  been  introduced  in  Congress 
for  this  purpose  by  representatives  com- 
ing from  the  great  Roman  Catholic 
strongholds  of  Greater  New  York  City 
and  Boston,  in  each  of  which  cities  a 
Roman  cardinal  and  member  of  the  Papal 
court  is  present  to  direct  the  political 
activities  of  Rome.  As  these  bills  are 
substantially  identical  in  their  arbitrary 
provisions,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  insert 
here  the  bill  introduced  by  Roman  Cath- 
olic Representative  Gallivan,  of  Boston, 
March  27,  1916: 

"Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  in  Congress  assem- 
bled: That  the  Postmaster  General  shall 
make  the  necessary  rules  and  regulations 
to  exclude  from  the  mails  those  publica- 
tions the  avowed  and  deliberate  purpose 
of  which  is  to  attack  a  recognized  religion 
held  by  the  citizens  of  the  United  States, 
or  any  religious  order  to  which  citizens 
of  the  United  States  belong." 

The  following  letter,  written  by  the 

165 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of  New 
York,  will  further  show  the  intolerant 
and  destructive  policy  of  Rome  towards 
even  her  own  periodical  publications: 

"452  MADISON  AVENUE,  New  York, 

"APRIL  13,  1887. 
"To  THE  EDITOR  AND  PROPRIETOR  OF  THE 

CATHOLIC  HERALD: 

"Gentlemen — By  this  note,  which  is 
entirely  private  and  not  to  be  published, 
I  wish  to  call  your  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  Third  Plenary  Council  of  Balti- 
more, following  the  leadership  of  Pope 
Leo  XIII.,  has  pointed  out  the  duties  of 
the  Catholic  press,  and  denounced  the 
abuses  of  which  journals  styling  them- 
selves Catholic  are  sometimes  guilty. 
'That  paper  alone,'  say  the  council  (de- 
cree No.  228),  'is  to  be  regarded  as  Cath- 
olic that  is  prepared  to  submit  in  all 
things  to  ecclesiastical  authority.'  Later 
on  it  warns  all  Catholic  writers  against 
presuming  to  attack  publicly  the  manner 
in  which  a  bishop  rules  his  diocese,  affirm- 
ing that  those  who  so  presume,  as  well  as 
their  approvers  and  abettors,  are  dealt 
with  by  canonical  censures. 

"For  some  time  past  the  utterances 
of  the  Catholic  Herald  have  been  shock- 
166 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


ingly  scandalous.  As  this  newspaper  is 
published  in  this  diocese,  I  hereby  warn 
you  that  if  you  continue  in  this  course  of 
conduct  it  will  be  at  your  peril.  I  am, 
gentlemen,  yours  truly, 

"M.  A.  CORRIGAN, 
"Archbishop  of  New  York." 
— Facing    the    Twentieth    Century,    by 
James  M.  King,  p.  367. 


107 


XXI 

OPPOSES  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 

3.  Free  public  schools  are  vehemently 
opposed  and  denounced  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church. 

Few  American  institutions  are  so 
prized  by  all  patriotic  citizens  as  the  free 
public  school.  From  Maine  to  California 
the  public  schoolhouse  is  recognized  as  a 
cradle  of  liberty  and  intelligence.  Amer- 
ican citizens  pay  their  school  tax  with  a 
cheerful  sense  of  satisfaction. 

The  free  public  school  belongs  pecul- 
iarly to  Protestant  peoples.  It  is  vir- 
tually unknown  in  countries  dominated 
by  Romanism.  It  is  very  significant  that 
among  Protestant  peoples  the  percentage 
of  illiteracy  is  extremely  small,  while  in 
all  Roman  Catholic  communities  it  is 
appallingly  large.  In  some  of  the  Prot- 
estant countries  persons  unable  to  read 

168 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


and  write  compose  less  than  one  per  cent, 
of  the  total  population,  while  in  Roman 
Catholic  countries  the  number  exceeds 
fifty  per  cent. 

On    September    30,     1860,    Cardinal 
Pecci,  who  afterwards  became  Pope  Leo 
XIII.,  wrote  the  Royal   Commissary  of 
Italy  a  letter  against  reforms  that  were  be- 
ing instituted  by  the  Government  in  por- 
tions of  that  peninsula.    He  was  especially        / 
bitter  in  denouncing  a  decree  establishing       / 
public  education  under  the  direction  of    J 
the  civil  government.     In  that  letter  the  / 
cardinal  used  the  following  language: 

"The  decree  admits  that  religion  is 
inseparable  from  a  wise  instruction  and 
education.  But  then  it  excludes  in  the 
most  absolute  manner  the  direction  and 
superintendence  of  the  religious  authority 
from  the  institutions  in  which  youth  is 
instructed  and  educated,  and  substitutes 
for  it  privately  those  of  the  Govern- 
ment."—Life  of  Leo  XIIL,  by  O'Reilly, 
p.  239. 

Prof.  William  Turner,  of  the  Catholic 
University  of  America  at  Washington, 

12  169 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


D.  C,  states  the  hostile  disposition  of  the 
Roman  Church  towards  public  secular 
education  in  the  following  words: 

"The  Church  can  not  approve  schools 
which  exclude  religion  from  the  curricu- 
lum, both  because  religion  is  the  most 
important  subject  in  education,  and  be- 
cause she  contends  that  even  secular 
education  is  not  possible  in  its  best  form 
unless  religion  be  made  the  central,  vital- 
izing and  co-ordinating  factor  in  the  life 
of  the  child.  The  Church,  sometimes, 
tolerates  schools  in  which  religion  is  not 
taught,  and  permits  Catholic  children  to 
attend  them,  when  the  circumstances  are 
such  as  to-leave  no  alternative,  and  when 
due  precautions  are  taken  to  supply  by 
other  means  the  religious  training  which 
such  schools  do  not  give.  -  She  reserves 
the  right  to  judge  whether  this  be  the 
case,  and,  if  her  judgment  is  unfavorable, 
claims  the  right  to  forbid  attendance  (see 
letter  of  Gregory  XVI.  to  Irish  bishops, 
16  Jan.,  1831).  .  .  .  State  monopoly  of 
education  has  been  considered  by  the 
Church  to  be  nothing  short  of  tyrannical 
usurpation"  —  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  > 
Vol.  XIII.,  p.  558. 

In  Clauses  45  and  48  of  his  "Syllabus  \ 

170 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


of  Errors"  of  1864,  Pope  Pius  IX.  heart- 
ily condemns  the  idea  that  education  shall 
be  under  direction  of  the  civil  govern- 
ment and  separated  from  the  control  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

The  Papacy  does  not  permit  secular 
control  of  the  public  schools  in  countries 
which  it  can  dominate.  By  treaty  stipu- 
lation the  Pope  is  accustomed  to  exact 
from  the  Government  of  such  countries 
full  control  of  the  state  school  system  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  hierarchy.  As  illus- 
trating the  provisions  so  exacted  and 
enforced  in  Roman  Catholic  countries,  a 
sample  is  here  submitted  of  such  pro- 
visions taken  from  the  concordat  made 
in  1887  between  the  Pope  and  the  United 
States  of  Colombia  in  South  America. 
Following  are  the  sections  of  that  con- 
cordat bearing  on  education: 

"XII.  In  the  universities,  colleges, 
schools  and  other  educational  centers,  the 
public  education  and  instruction  shall  be 
organized  and  directed  in  conformity 
with  the  doctrines  and  moral  teaching  of 
the  Catholic  religion.  Religious  instruc- 

171 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


tion  shall  be  obligatory  in  such  institu- 
tions, and  the  religious  exercises  pre- 
scribed by  the  Catholic  religion  shall  be 
observed  in  them. 

"XIII.  In  consequence  of  the  fore-- 
going Article,  the  respective  ordinaries, 
either  in  person  or  by  delegates  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  shall  exercise  the  right 
of  inspecting  and  revising  the  text-books 
used  for  the  teaching  of  religion  and 
morality  in  such  institutions.  The  Arch- 
bishop of  Bogota  shall  select  the  books 
to  be  used  as  text-books  in  religion  and 
morality  in  the  universities;  and  in  order 
to  insure  uniformity  of  instruction  on 
these  subjects,  this  Prelate,  in  concert 
with  other  diocesan  Bishops,  shall  select 
the  text-books  for  the  other  Government 
educational  establishments.  The  Gov- 
ernment will  take  care  that,  in  the  deliv- 
ery of  lectures  on  literary  and  scientific 
subjects,  and  generally  in  all  branches  of 
instruction,  no  ideas  contrary  to  the 
Catholic  doctrine,  or  tending  to  lessen 
the  respect  and  veneration  due  to  the 
Church,  are  propagated. 

"XIV.  In  case  religious  and  moral 
teaching  should  not  be  in  conformity  with 
Catholic  doctrines,  in  spite  of  the  orders 
and  precautions  of  the  Government,  the 

172 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 

respective  ordinaries  shall  be  able  to  de- 
prive the  professors  and  masters  of  the 
right  of  giving  instruction  in  such  mat- 
ters."— State  Papers  Published  by  the 
British  Government,  Vol.  LXXIX.,  p. 
818. 

Such  is  the  real  disposition  of  the 
Papal  Empire  towards  public  education. 
Manifestly,  the  protestations  of  loyalty 
to  the  public  schools  which  are  frequently 
made  by  mouthpieces  of  Rome  in  this 
country  are  deliberately  false  and  intend- 
ed merely  to  deceive  the  public.  Not- 
withstanding the  inherent  hatred  and 
opposition  of  the  Papacy  to  our  great 
system  of  free  public  schools,  Roman 
Catholic  politicians  have  contrived  to 
secure  the  employment  of  an  appalling 
number  of  Papists  as  teachers  and  even 
as  principals  and  superintendents  in  these 
schools.  The  enmity  of  the  Pope  and 
the  entire  Papal  hierarchy  to  public 
education  renders  it  impossible  for  any 
Papal  subject  to  serve  in  good  faith  as 
an  officer  or  teacher  in  any  American 
public-school  system. 

173 


XXII 

MARRIAGE 

4.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church  vio- 
lates and  defies  all  marriage  laws  not  in 
harmony  with  the  Papal  law  of  marriage. 

The  canon  law  of  the  Roman  Church 
boldly  forbids  Roman  Catholics  to  obey 
marriage  laws  of  this  or  any  nation 
which  are  not  identical  with  her  own 
laws  on  that  subject.  She  thus  openly 
defies  our  national  and  State  laws  gov- 
erning marriage,  and  requires  all  Roman 
Catholics  to  violate  and  disregard  the 
same.  This  defiance  of  our  law  has 
caused  Roman  priests  to  destroy  domestic 
happiness  in  many  Christian  homes,  to 
force  separation  of  legally  married  hus- 
bands and  wives,  and  to  stigmatize  the 
children  born  in  lawful  wedlock  as  ille- 
gitimate. Her  defiance  of  our  marriage 
laws  clearly  appears  from  the  following: 

174 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


"When,  however,  the  State  enacts 
laws  inimical  to  the  marriage  laws  of 
the  Church,  practically  denying  her  right 
to  protect  the  sacred  character  of  matri- 
mony, she  can  not  allow  her  children  to 
submit  to  such  enactments." — Catholic 
Encyclopedia,  Vol.  IX.,  p.  700. 

"As,  then,  marriage  is  holy  by  its  own 
power,  in  its  own  nature,  and  of  itself, 
it  ought  not  to  be  regulated  and  adminis- 
tered by  the  will  of  civil  rulers,  but  by 
the  divine  authority  of  the  Church,  which 
alone  in  sacred  matters  professes  the 
office  of  teaching." — Great  Encyclical 
Letters  of  Pope  Leo  XIII.,  p.  68. 

Pope  Pius  IX.,  in  a  letter  of  protest 
to  the  King  of  Italy  against  the  law  of 
1860  authorizing  civil  marriages,  con- 
demned that  law,  and  the  marriages  con- 
tracted thereunder,  in  the  following 
words : 

"We  wrote  to  your  Majesty  that  the 
law  is  not  Catholic;  and  if  the  law  is  not 
Catholic,  the  clergy  are  obliged  to  tell 
the  people  so,  even  at  the  risk  of  incur- 
ring the  threatened  penalties.  Your 
Majesty,  we  also  speak  to  you  in  the 
name  of  Christ  Jesus,  whose  Vicar  we 

175 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


are,  how  unworthy  soever;  and  we  say 
tc  you  in  His  Name,  do  not  sanction  this 
law,  which  is  pregnant  with  a  thousand 
disorders.  .  .  .  We  give  ourselves  up 
willingly  to  the  hope  of  seeing  you  sup- 
port the  rights  of  the  Church,  protect 
her  ministers,  and  free  her  people  from 
the  peril  of  being  subjected  to  certain 
laws  which  bear  on  their  face  the  decay 
of  religion  and  of  the  morality  of 
nations." — Life  of  Leo  XIII.,  p.  222. 

The  Council  of  Trent  officiallv  denned 

j 

the  attitude  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  on  the  subject  of  marriage.  It 
declared  positively  that  all  marriages  not 
solemnized  by  a  Roman  priest  are  abso- 
lutely null  and  void  in  the  following 
words : 

"Those  who  otherwise  than  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  parish  priest  himself  or  of 
another  priest  acting  with  the  license  of 
the  parish  priest  or  of  the  Ordinary,  and 
in  the  presence  of  two  or  three  witnesses, 
shall  attempt  to  contract  matrimony,  the 
Holy  Synod  renders  altogether  incapable 
of  contracting  marriage  thus,  and  decrees 
that  contracts  of  this  kind  are  null  and 
void." 

176 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


In  1907  Pope  Pius  X.  handed  down 
from  the  Papal  throne  the  latest  and  most 
radical  legislative  utterance  of  the  Papacy 
to  the  same  effect  in  the  decree  which  is 
popularly  known  from  its  opening  words 
in  Latin  as  the  Ne  Temere  Decree.  The 
most  salient  provisions  of  that  decree, 
when  translated  into  English,  read  as  fol- 
lows: 

"III.  Only  those  marriages  are  valid 
which  are  contracted  before  the  parish 
priest  or  the  Ordinary  of  the  place  or  a 
priest  delegated  by  either  of  these,  and  at 
least  two  witnesses,  according  to  the  rules 
laid  down  in  the  following  articles,  and 
saving  the  exceptions  mentioned  under 
VII.  and  VIII. 

"VII.  When  danger  of  death  is  im- 
minent and  where  the  parish  priest  or 
the  Ordinary  of  the  place  or  a  priest  dele- 
gated by  either  of  these  cannot  be  had, 
in  order  to  provide  for  the  relief  of  con- 
science and  (should  the  case  require  it) 
for  the  legitimation  of  offspring,  mar- 
riage may  be  contracted  validly  and  licitly 
before  any  priest  and  two  witnesses. 

"VIII.  Should  it  happen  that  in  any 

177 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


district  the  parish  priest  or  the  Ordinary 
of  the  place  or  a  priest  delegated  by 
either  of  them,  before  whom  marriage 
can  be  celebrated,  is  not  to  be  had,  and 
that  this  condition  of  things  has  lasted 
for  a  month,  marriage  may  be  validly  and 
licitly  entered  upon  by  the  formal  dec- 
laration of  consent  made  by  the  spouses 
in  the  presence  of  two  witnesses." 

The  foregoing  excerpts  from  the  de- 
cree of  the  Council  of  Trent  and  the  Ne 
Temere  Decree  are  taken  from  the  Ec- 
clesiastical Review  of  February,  1908,  at 
pages  133  et  seq. 


ITS 


XXIII 

DISFRANCHISEMENT  THE  ONLY 
ADEQUATE  REMEDY 

IV.  No  Member  or  Subject  of  the 
Papal  Empire  is  Legally  Entitled  to  Citi- 
zenship. 

Numerous  lay  members  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  are  doubtless  ignorant 
of  the  civil  status  and  disability  which 
the  Papal  hierarchy  has  forced  upon 
them.  These  laymen  sincerely  believe 
themselves  capable  of  the  highest  type  of 
patriotism.  In  any  conflict  or  transaction 
between  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  and  other  civil  governments  they 
would  probably  support  their  own 
country. 

But  in  dealings  or  breach  of  comity 
between  America  and  the  Vatican  their 
paramount  fealty  to  the  Vatican  would 
compel  them  to  oppose  the  American 

179 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


Government.  However  little  they  may 
be  aware  of  this  situation,  it  exists  none 
the  less  by  virtue  of  the  sovereign  status 
of  the  Pope  and  the  established  principles 
of  canon  law. 

The  Papal  Empire  is  the  only  govern- 
ment in  the  world  whose  subjects  are 
permitted  to  vote  in  another  sovereignty. 
No  subject  of  any  other  monarch  than 
the  Pope  and  no  citizen  of  any  other 
nation  is  given  citizenship  in  the  United 
States.  Before  enjoying  the  franchise  in 
this  country,  such  person  must  take  steps 
required  by  law  to  sever  his  identity  with 
the  nation  to  which  he  has  previously 
belonged. 

Nor  would  it  be  sufficient  that  Roman 
Catholics  should  forswear  allegiance  to 
the  Pope  as  the  subjects  of  other  mon- 
archs  abjure  allegiance  to  those  mon- 
archs.  Such  an  oath  taken  by  subjects 
of  the  Pope  would  not  remove  their  dis- 
ability, for  two  substantial  reasons.  In 
the  first  place,  under  the  doctrine  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  an  oath  against 
that  Church  or  against  the  Pope  does  not 

180 


PAPAL    SOVEREIGNTY 


bind  the  conscience  and  the  life  of  a 
Roman  Catholic  in  favor  of  a  Protestant 
or  of  Protestant  institutions. 

In  the  second  place,  the  oath  taken  by 
a  subject  of  the  British  Empire,  for 
instance,  when  seeking  citizenship  in  the 
United  States,  severs  his  British  connec- 
tion. He  must  terminate  his  connection 
with  that  empire  before  claiming  the 
rights  of  an  American  citizen.  The  same 
condition  binds  the  citizens  and  subjects 
of  all  sovereignties  except  the  Papacy. 
Roman  Catholics  remain  subject  to  the 
Pope  regardless  of  oaths  as  long  as  they 
remain  in  the  organization  over  which 
he  reigns  as  sovereign.  Complete  sub- 
jection to  the  Pope  is  the  very  essence  of 
Roman  Catholicism  and  is  inseparable 
from  it. 

So  long  as  the  Sovereign  Pontiff 
claims  and  exercises  temporal  jurisdic- 
tion and  participates  in  the  diplomacy 
and  politics  of  the  world,  his  subjects  are 
bound  by  the  same  conditions  that  bind 
subjects  to  other  monarchs.  No  Roman 
Catholic,  while  retaining  membership  in 

181 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


the  Papal  Empire,  which  is  identical  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  is  entitled 
to  citizenship  under  any  civil  govern- 
ment. He  can  escape  this  disability 
exactly  as  subjects  of  other  empires  and 
governments  escape  it,  by  severing  en- 
tirely his  connection  with  the  political 
empire  which  the  Pope  rules  with  su- 
preme power.  Till  he  does  this,  he  is 
not  entitled  to  any  political  rights  as  an 
American  citizen. 

Because  of  his  political  fealty  to  the 
Pope  and  his  consequent  civil  disability 
— not  because  of  his  religion — every 
Roman  Catholic  enjoying  the  privileges 
of  an  American  citizen  is  doing  so  in 
violation  of  the  spirit  and  essence  of  con- 
stitutional law.  He  can  not  be  at  once 
an  American  citizen  and  a  subject  of  the 
Papal  Empire.  He  must  surrender  the 
one  prerogative  or  the  other.  If  he  pre- 
fers to  retain  membership  in  the  Pope's 
ecclesiastical  empire,  justice  demands  his 
disfranchisement  and  surrender  of  Amer- 
ican citizenship. 

The  political  sovereignty  of  the  Pope 

182 


PAPAL   SOVEREIGNTY 


with  the  consequent  dual  allegiance  of  all 
Roman  Catholics  has  complicated  the 
politics  of  the  civilized  world  since  the 
nightfall  of  the  Dark  Ages.  It  has  em- 
broiled the  nations  in  their  fiercest  con- 
flicts and  drenched  the  earth  with  human 
blood.  Having  scourged  the  Old  World 
through  so  many  centuries,  the  Papal 
system  is  now  pouring  its  ignorant  and 
degraded  peoples  into  this  country  and 
fastening  its  destructive  grip  on  our  insti- 
tutions. The  most  stupendous  political 
issue  of  modern  times  is  thus  being 
forced  upon  us.  The  mighty  problem 
awaits  solution  at  the  hands  of  our  citi- 
zens. Its  difficulty,  its  magnitude,  its 
vital  importance,  challenge  the  strongest 
hands,  the  clearest  heads  and  the  bravest 
hearts  of  the  greatest  and  freest  people 
beneath  the  sun. 


183 


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